 Subfossils were also recovered during the 1860s , but more complete remains were found during the 1874 transit of Venus , since an observation station was located on the island . Many of these excavations were requested by brothers Alfred and Edward Newton , who used them to describe the osteology of the bird in detail . Thousands of bones were excavated , and mounted skeletons were composed from the remains of several specimens . It has been suggested that the skeleton of this species is the best described after that of humans . In spite of this , some later scholars doubted Leguat 's story , and the existence of the Rodrigues solitaire . In 1955 , George Evelyn Hutchinson doubted aspects of the bird 's biology mentioned by Leguat , and in 1921 , G. Atkinson claimed the memoir was merely a novel , and that the man had never even existed . Today , it is widely accepted that Leguat 's memoirs are credible observations of the bird in life . 
