1-156-870 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Dodo and guinea pig, 1750. A dodo - Didus ineptus, an extinct flightless bird from Mauritius and a guinea pig - Cavia porcellus, a rodent native to South America. Portuguese sailors were the first people to see a dodo when they arrived at Mauritius in 1507. By 1681, a combination of the activities of people and the animals they introduced onto the island had completely eradicated the birds. From A Natural History of Uncommon Birds by George Edwards. (London, 1750).