sweighing of the earth； and many of the other inspired and mendable undertakings thathave occupied us for much of the past four hundred pages； a rather less desirable milestonewas being passed on the island of mauritius； far out in the indian ocean some eight hundredmiles off the east coast of madagascar。
there； some forgotten sailor or sailor鈥檚 pet was harrying to death the last of the dodos； thefamously flightless bird whose dim but trusting nature and lack of leggy zip made it a ratherirresistible target for bored young tars on shore leave。 millions of years of peaceful isolationhad not prepared it for the erratic and deeply unnerving behavior of human beings。
we don鈥檛 know precisely the circumstances； or even year； attending the last moments of thelast dodo； so we don鈥檛 know which arrived first； a world that contained a principia or one thathad no dodos； but we do know that they happened at more or less the same time。 you wouldbe hard pressed； i would submit； to find a better pairing of occurrences to illustrate the divineand felonious nature of the human being鈥攁 species of organism that is capable of unpickingthe deepest secrets of the heavens while at the same time pounding into extinction； for nopurpose at all； a creature that never did us any harm and wasn鈥檛 even remotely capable ofunderstanding what we were doing to it as we did it。 indeed； dodos were so spectacularlyshort on insight； it is reported； that if you wished to find all the dodos in a vicinity you hadonly to catch one and set it to squawking； and all the others would waddle along to see whatwas up。
the indignities to the poor dodo didn鈥檛 end quite there。 in 1755； some seventy years afterthe last dodo鈥檚 death； the director of the ashmolean museum in oxford decided that theinstitution鈥檚 stuffed dodo was being unpleasantly musty and ordered it tossed on abonfire。 this was a surprising decision as it was by this time the only dodo in existence；stuffed or otherwise。 a passing employee； aghast； tried to rescue the bird but could save onlyits head and part of one limb。
as a result of this and other departures from mon sense； we are not now entirely surewhat a living dodo was like。 we possess much less information than most people suppose鈥攁handful of crude descriptions by 鈥渦nscientific voyagers； three or four oil paintings； and a fewscattered osseous fragments；鈥潯n the somewhat aggrieved words of the nineteenth…centurynaturalist h。 e。 strickland。 as strickland wistfully observed； we have more physical evidenceof some ancient sea monsters and lumbering saurapods than we do of a bird that lived intomodern times and required nothing of us to survive except our absence。
so what is known of the dodo is this： it lived on mauritius； was plump but not tasty； andwas the biggest…ever member of the pigeon family； though by quite what margin is unknownas its weight was never accurately recorded。 extrapolations from strickland鈥檚 鈥渙sseous fragments鈥潯nd the ashmolean鈥檚 modest remains show that it was a little over two and a halffeet tall and about the same distance from beak tip to backside。 being flightless； it nested onthe ground； leaving its eggs and chicks tragically easy prey for pigs； dogs； and monkeysbrought to the island by outsiders。 it was probably extinct by 1683 and was most certainlygone by 1693。 beyond that we know almost nothing except of course that we will not see itslike again。 we know nothing of its reproductive habits and diet； where it ranged； what soundsit made in tranquility or alarm。 we don鈥檛 possess a single dodo egg。
from beginning to end our acquaintance with animate dodos lasted just seventy years。 thatis a breathtakingly scanty period鈥攖hough it must be said that by this point in our history wedid have thousands of years of practice behind us in the matter of irreversible eliminations。
nobody knows quite how destructive human beings are； but it is a fact that over the last fiftythousand years or so wherever we have gone animals have tended to vanish； in oftenastonishingly large numbers。
in america； thirty genera of large animals鈥攕ome very large indeed鈥攄isappearedpractically at a stroke after the arrival of modern humans on the continent between ten andtwenty thousand years ago。 altogether north and south america between them lost aboutthree quarters of their big animals once man the hunter arrived with his flint…headed spearsand keen organizational capabilities。 europe and asia； where the animals had had longer toevolve a useful wariness of humans； lost between a third and a half of their big creatures。
australia； for exactly the opposite reasons； lost no less than 95 percent。
because the early hunter populations were paratively small and the animal populationstruly monumental鈥攁s many as ten million mammoth carcasses are thought to lie frozen in thetundra of northern siberia alone鈥攕ome authorities think there must be other explanations；possibly involving climate change or some kind of pandemic。 as ross macphee of theamerican museum of natural history put it： 鈥渢here鈥檚 no material benefit to huntingdangerous animals more often than you need to鈥攖here are only so many mammoth steaksyou can eat。鈥潯thers believe it may have been almost criminally easy to catch and clobberprey。 鈥渋n australia and the americas；鈥潯ays tim flannery； 鈥渢he animals probably didn鈥檛 knowenough to run away。鈥�
some of the creatures that were lost were singularly spectacular and would take a littlemanaging if they were still around。 imagine ground sloths that could look into an upstairswindow； tortoises nearly the size of a small fiat； monitor lizards twenty feet long baskingbeside desert highways in western australia。 alas； they are gone and we live on a muchdiminished planet。 today； across the whole world； only four types of really hefty （a metric tonor more） land animals survive： elephants； rhinos； hippos； and giraffes。 not for tens of millionsof years has life on earth been so diminutive and tame。
the question that arises is whether the disappearances of the stone age and disappearancesof more recent times are in effect part of a single extinction event鈥攚hether； in short； humansare inherently bad news for other living things。 the sad likelihood is that we may well be。
according to the university of chicago paleontologist david raup； the background rate ofextinction on earth throughout biological history has been one species lost every four yearson average。 according to one recent calculation； human…caused extinction now may berunning as much as 120；000 times that level。
in the mid…1990s； the australian naturalist tim flannery； now head of the south australianmuseum in adelaide； became struck by how little we seemed to know about many extinctions； including relatively recent ones。 鈥渨herever you looked； there seemed to be gapsin the records鈥攑ieces missing； as with the dodo； or not recorded at all；鈥潯e told me when imet him in melbourne a year or so ago。
flannery recruited his friend peter schouten； an artist and fellow australian； and togetherthey embarked on a slightly obsessive quest to scour the world鈥檚 major collections to find outwhat was lost； what was left； and what had never been known at all。 they spent four yearspicking through old skins； musty specimens； old drawings； and written descriptions鈥攚hatever was available。 schouten made life…sized paintings of every animal they couldreasonably re…create； and flannery wrote the words。 the result was an extraordinary bookcalled a gap in nature； constituting the most plete鈥攁nd； it must be said； moving鈥攃atalog of animal extinctions from the last three hundred years。
for some animals； records were good； but nobody had done anything much with them；sometimes for years； sometimes forever。 steller鈥檚 sea cow； a walrus…like creature related tothe dugong； was one of the last really big animals to go extinct。 it was truly enormous鈥攁nadult could reach lengths of nearly thirty feet and weigh ten tons鈥攂ut we are acquainted withit only because in 1741 a russian expedition happened to be shipwrecked on the only placewhere the creatures still survived in any numbers； the remote and foggy mander islandsin the bering sea。
happily； the expedition had a naturalist； georg steller； who was fascinated by the animal。
鈥渉e took the most copious notes；鈥潯ays flannery。 鈥渉e even measured the diameter of itswhiskers。 the only thing he wouldn鈥檛 describe was the male genitals鈥攖hough； for somereason； he was happy enough to do the female鈥檚。 he even saved a piece of skin； so we had agood idea of its texture。 we weren鈥檛 always so lucky。鈥�
the one thing steller couldn鈥檛 do was save the sea cow itself。 already hunted to the brinkof extinction； it would be gone altogether within twenty…seven years of steller鈥檚 discovery ofit。 many other animals； however； couldn鈥檛 be included because too little is known about them。
the darling downs hopping mouse； chatham islands swan； ascension island flightless crake；at least five types of large turtle； and many others are forever lost to us except as names。
a great deal of extinction； flannery and schouten discovered； hasn鈥檛 been cruel or wanton；but just kind of majestically foolish。 in 1894； when a lighthouse was built on a lonely rockcalled stephens island； in the tempestuous strait between the north and south islands of newzealand； the lighthouse keeper鈥檚 cat kept bringing him strange little birds that it had caught。
the keeper dutifully sent some specimens to the museum in wellington。 there a curator grewvery excited because the bird was a relic species of flightless wrens鈥攖he only example of aflightless perching bird ever found anywhere。 he set off at once for the island； but by the timehe got there the cat had killed them all。 twelve stuffed museum species of the stephens islandflightless wren are all that now exist。
at least we have those。 all too often； it turns out； we are not much better at looking afterspecies after they have gone than we were before they went。 take the case of the lovelycarolina parakeet。 emerald green； with a golden head； it was arguably the most striking andbeautiful bird ever to live in north ame