Dodo The dodo ( " Latin " : " Raphus cucullatus " , " Dutch " : " doedaars " ) , sometimes called a didus or " didus ineptus , " ( PROSE : " " ) was a type of large , flightless pigeon that was found only on Mauritius . ( PROSE : " The Last Dodo " ) According to the First Doctor , it was well known for its extinction . ( COMIC : " The Didus Expedition " ) Nevertheless , several " last Dodos " were known to have existed — all of whom the Doctor encountered at one point or another ; one of them was kept in his TARDIS . ( PROSE : " Echo " ) According to the Tenth Doctor , the English word " dodo " came from the Dutch " doedaars " , which literally meant " fat ass " — or as he more modestly put it , " fat , um , rear " . ( PROSE : " The Last Dodo " ) Biology . The dodo had a large curved beak , a featherless face , a curly grey tail and yellow tips to its wings . ( PROSE : " The Last Dodo " ) History . The dodo became extinct in 1681 , wiped out by human s who had introduced species like pig s and hunted them for their meat . ( PROSE : " The Last Dodo " ) The last dodo was saved and kept in the Museum of the Last Ones . This specimen was clone d by Eve and used to plant bombs on Earth which would destroy the planet . The original dodo was returned by the Tenth Doctor to Mauritius . Although Martha Jones did not understand why , the Doctor had named the bird " Dorothea , " a reference to his former companion , Dorothea " Dodo " Chaplet . ( PROSE : " The Last Dodo " ) . Ironically , according to one account of her early history , the companion was in turn nicknamed after the bird by classmates who thought her stupid . ( PROSE : " Salvation " ) On Earth , the last known stuffed Dodo was kept in the British Museum by the Royal Society for almost a century , but it eventually deteriorated and was incinerated in 1755 . ( COMIC : " Bêtes Noires & Dark Horses " ) In later centuries , the expression " dead as a dodo , " referring to their extinction , was common . ( AUDIO : " The Wrath of the Iceni " , " Love and War " , " The Forgotten Village " , " Criss - Cross " ) Another dodo was held in the TARDIS zoo . Ace found it while exploring the ship . She let it out , but it bit her and fled down the corridors . She caught it and returned it to the zoo . ( PROSE : " Echo " ) Yet another " last dodo " was found at a zoo on an unnamed planet . This dodo escaped shortly before the First Doctor , John and Gillian visited the zoo . The travellers offered to find the bird . They set off into the jungle surrounding the zoo and were quickly beset by a hostile tribe who believed the bird lucky and captured it . The Doctor tricked the tribesmen with a false bird of paradise that John quickly carved and returned the didus to the zoo . The bird ' s egg s hatched after that , creating yet more " last dodos " ( COMIC : " The Didus Expedition " ) Other references . The " I - Spyder Book of Earth Creatures " gave 800 points for seeing a dodo . ( PROSE : " The Last Dodo " ) Griffin had a dodo in his collection . ( PROSE : " Unnatural History " ) The feasibility generator looked like a dodo . ( AUDIO : " The Land of Wonder " ) The Eleventh Doctor planned to save the dodos if he survived his death at Lake Silencio . ( TV : " The Wedding of River Song " ) Charles Darwin was said to have eaten dodo . ( PROSE : " Risk Assessment " ) Behind the scenes . Another Latin name for the bird is " Didus ineptus " . When the First Doctor calls the bird a " didus " in " The Didus Expedition " , he ' s therefore speaking Latin , not naming an entirely different species that happens to have the same features and backstory of the dodo . In the zoological community , " Didus ineptus " was an attempt at a new , and more obvious , Latin name . However , many zoologists favour the older " Raphus cucullatus " . In any case , the two terms are synonymous .