The Dodo and the Solitaire: A Natural History

by Jolyon C. Parish

The Dodo and the Solitaire is the most comprehensive book to date about these two famously extinct birds. It contains all the known contemporary accounts and illustrations of the dodo and solitaire, covering their history after extinction and discussing their ecology, classification, phylogenetic placement, and evolution. Both birds were large and flightless and lived on inhabited islands some 500 miles east of Madagascar. The first recorded descriptions of the dodo were provided by Dutch sailors who first encountered them in 1598--within 100 years, the dodo was extinct. So quickly did the bird disappear that there is insufficient evidence to form an entirely accurate picture of its appearance and ecology, and the absence has led to much speculation. The story of the dodo, like that of the solitaire, has been pieced together from fragments, both literary and physical, that have been carefully compiled and examined in this extraordinary volume.

Genres: Natural History, Science, Nature, Birds, Biology, Nonfiction, Animals

406 pages, Hardcover

First published November 26, 2012

Reviews

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

good mix of scientific, historical, and natural history of these indian ocean islands birds, and their quick sad demise as soon as the euros showed up. on the academic side if any readers out there wanting that, but good writing and narratives for the arm chair voyagers too. nice maps, illustrations, index, notes and biblio

[Norman Edelen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fascinating account of what we know, and can know about two large extinct island birds. The two birds went extinct so quickly after discovery, and before science was much more than the hobby of a few men, that what evidence we do have for the birds' anatomy and behavior is scrappy at best. This book is fairly dense reading, being quite scholarly, and isn't something I would recommend for general audiences.

[John Senner · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Dodo was first described by Dutch sailors in September 1598 and was extinct approximately 100 years later. This book is an attempt to compile all knowledge of this bird and another flightless bird on a neighboring island. Not an easy read. Lots of obscure terms of description.