IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v429y2004i6992d10.1038_nature02688.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dutch diaries and the demise of the dodo

Author

Listed:
  • Julian Pender Hume

    (Palaeobiology Research Group, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth
    The Bird Group, Natural History Museum)

  • David M. Martill

    (Palaeobiology Research Group, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth)

  • Christopher Dewdney

    (Palaeobiology Research Group, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth)

Abstract

Arising from: D. L. Roberts & A. R. Solow Nature 426, 245 (2003).10.1038/426245a Roberts and Solow1 have presented theoretical data to suggest that the dodo, Raphus cucullatus, of Mauritius may have persisted until 1690, some 28 years beyond its accepted extinction date of 1662. Here we analyse new historical data derived from records of hunting caches, noted by Opperhoofd (Chief) Isaac Joan Lamotius, which confirm that specimens of R. cucullatus were collected regularly for at least 26 years beyond 1662. We calculate a new extinction date, which differs by only three years from that calculated by Roberts and Solow, but which, using a statistical treatment similar to theirs, greatly narrows the confidence interval.

Suggested Citation

  • Julian Pender Hume & David M. Martill & Christopher Dewdney, 2004. "Dutch diaries and the demise of the dodo," Nature, Nature, vol. 429(6992), pages 1-1, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:429:y:2004:i:6992:d:10.1038_nature02688
    DOI: 10.1038/nature02688
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02688
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature02688?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:429:y:2004:i:6992:d:10.1038_nature02688. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.