Talk:Dodo

Of etymology of Raphus

There is a source of etymology of Raphus: "Sigismond Galenius ayant trouvé dans Hésychius le nom de ράφος , dont l'application n'étoit point déterminée, l'appropria de son bon plaisir à l'outarde; et depuis, MM. Moehring et Brisson l'ont appliqué au dronte, sans rendre compte des raisons qui les y ont engagés". de Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc "Histoire naturelle" // Œuvres complètes. — Paris: Rapet et Cie, 1818. — Vol. 9. — P. 259. (See: http://books.google.ru/books?id=sj9UAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq=Sigismond+Galenius+hesychius&source=bl&ots=ieLsNj_HtF&sig=vVvU4WOl-cPP1drv8lwniHqIe94&hl=ru&sa=X&ei=CFPNUbq6AuKn4gT28ICYCw&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Sigismond%20Galenius%20hesychius&f=false) Ashmaker (talk) 05:17, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

• What does it say? FunkMonk (talk) 05:22, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
  • Something like that: Sigismond Galenius met name ράφος with unclear definition in Hesychius's book and used it for bustard for his pleasure; later M.M. Moehring and Brisson applied this name to dodo with no explanation of any reasons. To get more exact translation ask your French lang. friends:)) Ashmaker (talk) 05:47, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
  • Thanks. Doesn't seem to give much more resolution than what's already in the article. It basically just says the reason for the name is unknown?FunkMonk (talk) 05:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
    • Scientists often invented sonorous and senseless names for animals and plants just for their pleasure, e.g. after ancient mythological characters. Ashmaker (talk) 06:04, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
    • In the article there are many infos about origin of many other "Dodo-words", but nothing of Genus name.Ashmaker (talk) 06:14, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

It says it is a reference to bustards. FunkMonk (talk) 14:20, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

Extinction of Dodo

I believe the Dutch settlers/invaders had much to do with Dodo extinction as they started using it to replace poultry as it's meat was considered highly exquisite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.26.207.170 (talk) 17:33, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

Faulty statement @ Subfossil specimens

The statement "A barber named Louis Etienne Thirioux also found many dodo remains around 1900, which are now lost" [my emphasis] is utterly wrong. Thirioux in fact discovered the only complete skeleton of an individual bird, and his specimens are still on display in Mauritius. May be I'll edit it after dinner. Chhandama (talk) 11:23, 8 November 2014 (UTC)

Not sure what happened there, but he found the only remains of a juvenile dodo, which are indeed now lost. FunkMonk (talk) 16:59, 8 November 2014 (UTC)

Source never cited

Not sure if the reference to this listed source was dropped, but there is currently nothing referring to it: Kallio, H. (2004). The Dodo and Mauritius Island. England: Dewi Lewis Publishing. —Gaff ^ταλκ 15:40, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Yeah, removed it from the text, because the info I cited was pretty useless. And then one of course has to remove it from the reference list as well, argh, I hate this citation style... FunkMonk (talk) 15:43, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 December 2014

I think the section on culture should contain a reference to the dodo's depiction in the Looney Tunes cartoon Porky in Wackyland. 174.124.241.73 (talk) 01:18, 28 December 2014 (UTC) 174.124.241.73 (talk) 01:18, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

The "dodo" in "Porky in Wackyland" is a dodo in name only. As per WP:POPCULTURE, listing trivial or in-name-only appearances is recommended against.--Mr Fink (talk) 01:49, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

What makes you say that? It clearly is meant to be a dodo, albeit a stylized one. Taz is mentioned in the Tasmanian devil article and he could be said to be a devil in name only. The cartoon was voted #8 in 50 Greatest Cartoons and is preserved by the National Film Registry so its not insignificant. 174.124.241.73 (talk) 03:12, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Not done: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit semi-protected}} template. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 04:36, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Among other things, Taz the Tasmanian Devil looks like a mammal. The Wackyland dodo, on the other hand, doesn't look anything like a bird, let alone like an actual dodo. I mean, how does the Wackyland dodo significantly affect the public's perception of the dodo?--Mr Fink (talk) 04:51, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Compared to the other things mentioned in the culture section, this one seems to be fairly less significant. FunkMonk (talk) 08:20, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Article reads: "Today, the dodo appears frequently in works of popular fiction and is used as a mascot for many kinds of products." That is enough coverage for all obscure references. We don't need every instance from every sit-com when somebody got called a dodo. The Tasmanian Devil is a cultural icon, so not a fair comparison to an obscure reference.Gaff (talk) 00:00, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

Some interesting material

Unfortunately on a not so professional-looking site - https://sites.google.com/site/dodologistsmiscellany/ by Jolyon Parish. Shyamal (talk) 03:47, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

Heheh, I've seen it, took some images from it. And it seems he has in turn taken some images from Wikipedia! It is an appendix to his book, but it seems the most interesting parts have not been published yet. The painting on the right here was apparently unrecorded in Dodo literature until I notified Julian Hume about it and uploaded it to Commons:https://archive.org/stream/parishdodomisc3aa#page/n43/mode/2up FunkMonk (talk) 03:56, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

• On interesting material, this archive link[1] has a very interesting video which was once linked to in the aerticle, but the NHM link is now dead, so the archived one would be a good replacement. The Archive.org site does not contain the videos either. But for some reason, I can't add it due to some filter...[2] Anyone know what to do? FunkMonk (talk) 04:17, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

Help to translate

Hello. I'm translating this article to portuguese and I need some help. It's hard to understand old english phrases, if somebody write this text in modern english it will be very important to me.

Here they taried 12. daies to refresh themselues, finding in this place great quantity of foules twise as bigge as swans, which they called Walghstocks or Wallowbirdes being very good meat. But finding also aboundance of pidgeons & popiniayes, they disdained any more to eat of those great foules, calling them (as before) Wallowbirds, that is to say, lothsome or fulsome birdes. Of the said Pidgeons and Popiniayes they found great plenty being very fat and good meate, which they could easily take and kil euen with little stickes: so tame they are by reason ý the Isle is not inhabited, neither be the liuing creatures therein accustomed to the sight of men.

Thanks. Dr. Lenaldo Vigo (talk) 14:31, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

Here's a more understandable version from another source, perhaps we should bring it back: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dodo&diff=632683046&oldid=632682401 FunkMonk (talk) 22:18, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

Below is my best shot at retaining much of the phrasing and meaning, while making it intelligible for the purpose of translation.

Here they remained for 12 days to refresh themselves, finding in this place (area) a large number of birds [fowl] twice as big as swans, which they called Walghstocks or Wallowbirds [these are common names created by those finding the birds], having very good meat [the meaning of "good" in this description is not obvious to me, as the description of "lothsome or fulsome" directly contradicts all meanings of "good" that I am aware of]. However, since they also found a plentiful amount of pigeons and popinjays [antiquated term for Parrots], they chose to avoid eating more of the great [large and/or noble, depending on original meaning] fowl [birds], calling them (as mentioned previously) Wallowbirds, meaning [disgusting] and [excessive] birds.

Of the already mentioned pigeons and popinjays [parrots], the explorers found that they were plentiful, fat, and with good-tasting meat. The pigeons and popinjays [parrots] were easily captured by hand and killed with small sticks, due to being unaccustomed to humans because the isle was uninhabited by man.

[continuation of the passage]

Here they also found Raven Parrots and a huge abundance of fish; so many that two men were able catch enough for all five ships. They found tortoises so big that ten men could sit in and dine in one of their shells as well as being able to walk with two men standing on its shell. We searched the whole island for any human inhabitants, but none could be found, as it was entirely without people living there.

I hope this helps.

Thor214 (talk) 19:57, 14 March 2015 (UTC)