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Who shot Lewis Carroll’s dodo? Forensic scans reveal mystery death

The Oxford Dodo at the Museum of Natural History, Oxford, United Kingdom - www.alamy.com
The Oxford Dodo at the Museum of Natural History, Oxford, United Kingdom - www.alamy.com

The world’s most famous dodo, which inspired Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, met an untimely and murderous end, scientists have discovered.

The Oxford Dodo is the most well-preserved example of the extinct bird on Earth and still contains soft tissue and DNA which could be used one day to resurrect the species.

It was always thought the Oxford Dodo survived the fate of its kin, and was brought back alive from Mauritius to London where it was exhibited as an exotic curiosity.

Dodos survive such as this one auctioned in West Sussex in 2016 but only the Oxford dodo still has DNA - Credit:  Gareth Fuller
Dodos survive such as this one auctioned in West Sussex in 2016 but only the Oxford dodo still has DNA Credit: Gareth Fuller

In 1638 the MP Sir Hamon L’Estrange wrote that he had paid a penny to view a ‘strange fowle’ near Lincoln Inns Fields, claiming it ate stones as big as nutmegs to aid digestion.

After it died naturally it ended up in the collection of John Tradescant, gardener of King Charles II, whose curiosities were passed to Elias Ashmole, who used them to found Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.  Finally in 1860 the remains of the bird moved to the Oxford University of Natural History.

Scans show lead shot in the dodo's head  - Credit: University of Warwick
Scans show lead shot in the dodo's head Credit: University of Warwick

But when researchers at the University of Warwick were asked to scan the head of the dodo, they found clear evidence of pellets in it’s skull.

Subsequent analysis of the material and size of the particles revealed that they were lead shot, typically used to hunt wildfowl during the 17th century. The clear implication is that the bird either never made it to Britain alive or was shot sometime after its arrival.

Professor Paul Smith, Director of Oxford University Museum of Natural History, said: “We thought we knew the specimen, so it was a really great surprise when the researchers came and it had lots of millimetre diameter lead pellets embedded within the skin and the bone. It rapidly became apparent this was lead shot from a gun.

“Regarding where it was shot, the truth is we don’t know but it raises more questions. If it was shot in London, why? And if it was shot in Mauritius, how did they preserve the specimen?”

The dodo species was first discovered by the Dutch in 1598, but was recorded as extinct by 1662.

Although it was originally thought that hunters were to blame, revisionist histories suggest that dogs and rats from ships ate the eggs, wiping out the species. However the new evidence may show the bird was hunted after all. 

Dodos became extinct in the 1860s 
Dodos became extinct in the 1860s

 The Oxford dodo is not just scientifically significant but also culturally important. The mathematician Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) would regularly visit the Oxford University Museum of Natural History with his young muse Alice Liddel, and wrote the bird into Alice in Wonderland as a caricature of himself.

It also appears in Hilaire Belloc’s Bad Child’s Book of Beasts. Too precious to be on permanent display it remains in storage and is moved every few weeks to discourage theft.

The team had originally scanned the dodo’s head hoping to create a three dimensional skull which would reveal more about its evolutionary past and also how it fed. But the results uncovered something far more interesting.

The dodo is the only one in the world with soft tissue and DNA still present  - Credit: The University of Warwick
The dodo is the only one in the world with soft tissue and DNA still present Credit: The University of Warwick

Prof Mark Williams: “We were astounded to find that when we looked at the scans in close detail there were some mysterious pellets buried in the back of its head. The dodo had actually been shot.

“Although the results were initially shocking, it was exciting to be able to reveal such an important part of the story in the life of the world’s most famous extinct bird.

“ It just goes to show that when you are carrying out investigative research, you never quite know what you are going to find.”

The team now plan to use forensic analysis usually reserved for crime scenes to work out where the the bird was killed.

Prof Smith added: “The Oxford Dodo is the iconic representation of dodos, it’s the most complete, it’s the only one we can get DNA form.

“It is the only one we can do molecular analysis to work out relationships and potentially to reconstruct the genome of dodos.

“The next step is to do some chemical analysis of the lead shot and using those we may be able to trace which particular orefield the lead came form and therefore what country it was mined in and what country the shot was made in so we could then determine who killed the dodo.”