Dodo skeleton goes up for auction for first time in 100 years

For the first time in nearly a century, a mostly-complete skeleton of an extinct dodo bird is set to go up for auction.

Being put up for bid by Summers Place Auctions in the United Kingdom, the skeleton was assembled from bones gathered over several decades. The private collector putting the item up for sale said it only lacked a section of the skull and a set of claws.

“The rarity and completeness of this specimen cannot be overemphasized,” said Rupert van der Werff, a director at the auction house. “It provides a unique opportunity for an individual or an institution to own a specimen of this great icon of extinction.”

The dodo was native to the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius. It became extinct in the late 17th Century, less than 100 years after Europeans settlers arrived.

Revisiting an Extinct Creature

Incapable of swimming or flying, the dodo was bigger than a turkey and weighed around 50 pounds. It evolved without any natural predators and wasn’t afraid of humans. Dodo meat was said to be very tasty, which probably sealed the animal’s fate.

Most of the bones in the skeleton up for auction were retrieved from the Mare aux Songes swamp, in south-eastern Mauritius, during the 1800s. The Mauritian government has since prohibited all exports of dodo bones.

There is only one known dodo skeleton made from the bones of a single animal and it is on display in Port Louis, Mauritius. Around a dozen other specimens are composites comprised of bones from many birds.

The composite skeleton being released for auction is said to be the first assembled since the early 20th Century.

There has been talk in recent year about bringing back the dodo, possibly Jurassic Park-style, through genetic engineering. At a 2013 TEDx conference in Washington DC sponsored by National Geographic, scientists discussed the prospect of de-extinction, for the dodo and 23 other species.

While the scientific community largely agrees that bringing back the dodo will be a possibility in the near future, the real question is if we should. Detractors say bringing back extinct animals could upset the equilibrium of the modern-day habitats where these animals would be placed.

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Image credit: Summer’s Place Auctions

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