Scientific name	Raphus cucullatus
Home era	Late Holocene
Creature type	Bird
Deaths caused	0
Appearances	Episode 1.4 Episode 4.2 (mentioned) Episode 4.7 (mentioned)

"The dodo was renowned for being slow, stupid and harmless."

―Tom^[src]

Dodos were flightless birds, famously known for unfortunately becoming extinct in the 16th century, due to humans, dogs and rats.

FactsEdit

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about 20 kilograms (44 lb), living on fruit and nesting on the ground. The dodo has been extinct since the mid-to-late 17th century. It is commonly used as the archetype of an extinct species because its extinction occurred during recorded human history, and was directly attributable to human activity. The adjective phrase "to be as dead as a dodo" means undoubtedly and unquestionably dead, whilst the phrase "to go the way of the dodo" means to become extinct or obsolete, to fall out of common usage or practice, or to become a thing of the past.

In PrimevalEdit

A flock of five Dodos, at least two of which were carry Parasites, appeared through an anomaly via the Spaghetti Junction. They were all returned, except for the two infected Dodos. One died from the Parasite before it could return through the anomaly, while the second was stolen by Connor Temple's friends, Duncan and Tom. The two took the Dodo back to their apartment, where it bit Tom, passing the parasite onto him. As the Dodo began to become extremely aggressive towards Duncan due to the Parasite's influence, he locked it in his bedroom. There, the Dodo eventually died from the Parasite. (Episode 1.4)

When Lester asks Danny for Helen Cutter's status after his mission, he replies "Dead as a Dodo". (Episode 4.7)

Discovery and EtymologyEdit

The first descriptions of the bird were made by the Dutch. They called the Mauritius bird the walghvogel ("wallow bird" or "loathsome bird") in reference to its taste. Although many later writings say that the meat tasted bad, the early journals only say that the meat was tough but good, though not as good as the abundantly available pigeons. The name walgvogel was used for the first time in the journal of vice-admiral Wybrand van Warwijck who visited the island in 1598 and named it Mauritius.

The etymology of the word dodo is not clear. However, there is a consensus that the name is probably pejorative. Some ascribe it to the Dutch word dodoor for "sluggard", but it probably is related to dodaars ("knot-arse"), referring to the knot of feathers on the hind end. The first recording of the word dodo or dodaerse is in captain Willem van Westsanen's journal in 1602, but it is unclear whether he was the first one to use the word dodo, because before the Dutch, the Portuguese had already visited the island in 1507, but did not settle permanently. According to Encarta Dictionary and Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, "dodo" comes from Portuguese doudo (currently doido) meaning "fool" or "crazy". However, the present Portuguese name for the bird, dodô, is taken from the internationally used word dodo. The Portuguese word doudo or doido may itself be a loanword from Old English.

Yet another possibility is that dodo was an onomatopoeic approximation of the bird's own call, a two-note pigeony sound like "doo-doo". In 1606 Cornelis Matelief de Jonge wrote an important description of the dodo, some other birds, plants and animals on the island.

TriviaEdit

• Of all the creature incursions, the Dodos are the most recently extinct, dying out in the 17th century whereas most other encountered creatures from the past went extinct millions of years ago.
• This is the 2nd bird in Primeval.
• Tom and Duncan call the Dodo they capture Dodi.
• This is the 1st animal discounting humans to be a host for a parasitic creature.
• This is the first extinct animal that is not prehistoric (if you discount the Parasite in the same episode) in Primeval.
• This is the 1st Cenozoic creature to come through an anomaly.

GalleryEdit

Claudia Brown Tries to capture a Dodo

The Dodo eats the tracker

Nick Cutter with the Dodos

The Dodo goes back through the anomaly

Stephen and Nick examine a dead Dodo

The parasite comes out of the Dodo's mouth

The Dodo attacks a light bulb

An X-ray of the Dodo

The Dodo in Tom and Duncan's car

The Dodo looks at Claudia

the Dodo searches around Tom and Duncan's flat

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Promotional ImagesEdit

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External LinksEdit

• Dodo on the BBC America site
• Dodo on the Watch site

Wikipedia has a more detailed and comprehensive article on Dodo