Dodo Habitat Dodos inhabited the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean; a small island located somewhere around 500 miles from Madagascar. These species like monkeys, pigs, rodents, etc preyed upon the eggs from the ground nest of the Dodo birds and even killed the full grown Dodo as they were a great source of meat. The Dodo Bird Location and Map Dodo Birds, while now extinct, were found only on the small island of Mauritius, some 500 miles east of Madagascar, and 1200 miles east of Africa. The Nicobar Pigeon is the considered to be the closest relative of dodo bird. At some point, an ancestral relative of the dodo would have had to fly to get to Mauritius - it then evolved once it got there. One of the more interesting dodo bird facts is that these birds lived in almost complete isolation. The closest relatives to the dodo bird are pigeons and doves, even though dodo birds were much larger in size. A Dodo skeleton opposite a reconstructed model of the extinct bird in the National Museum of Wales [GETTY] 1. We are using DNA sequencing to pin down the dodo's relationship to other birds. Scientists are piecing together clues about the life of the dodo, hundreds of years after the flightless bird was driven to extinction. On average, dodo birds stood 3 feet tall and weighted about 40 lb. The ancestral pigeon lost its ability to fly because it had no natural predators, there was plenty of food on the ground and flying is very energy-intensive. It was numerous on dry coastal areas and tropical forests of Mauritius before sailors arrived to this island in 1598. It was a bird that went extinct over 300 years ago but is still one of the first things most people think about when they think about extinctions that were caused by human beings. The dodo bird only ever lived on Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean about 500 miles from the island of Madagascar. The dodo bird did not adapt and may have become extinct due to starvation/dehydration. These flightless birds lived in forests throughout the island.
Dodo was endemic for Mauritius, island in the Indian Ocean. Scientists have also found some remains in coastal caves and highlands, suggesting the birds may have lived in mountainous regions as well. To prevent this, the dodo could have evolved into a species that could fly and prevent this. The first recorded mention of a dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598. There are few descriptions of the preferred habitat of this species. Another most important reason behind the extinction of the bird is the introduction of other species by humans within the habitat of the Dodo. Dodo Birds Only Ever Lived on Mauritius.