1996/01/01 by David L. Roberts, Andrew R. Solow, Hernán Lucena Molero · 21 citations
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies #Economic Zones and Regional Development #Global Maritime and Colonial Histories #Hispanic-African Historical Relations #Marine and coastal plant biology #Marine and fisheries research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/426245a
openalex publication_date 1996/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The extinction of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus L.; Fig. 1) is commonly dated to the last confirmed sighting in 1662, reported by Volkert Evertsz on an islet off Mauritius. By this time, the dodo had become extremely rare - the previous sighting having been 24 years earlier - but the species probably persisted unseen beyond this date. Here we use a statistical method to establish the actual extinction time of the dodo as 1690, almost 30 years after its most recent sighting.