 The first recorded mention of the dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598 . In the following years , the bird was hunted by sailors and invasive species , while its habitat was being destroyed . The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662 . Its extinction was not immediately noticed , and some considered it to be a mythical creature . In the 19th century , research was conducted on a small quantity of remains of four specimens that had been brought to Europe in the early 17th century . Among these is a dried head , the only soft tissue of the dodo that remains today . Since then , a large amount of subfossil material has been collected on Mauritius , mostly from the Mare aux Songes swamp . The extinction of the dodo within less than a century of its discovery called attention to the previously unrecognised problem of human involvement in the disappearance of entire species . The dodo achieved widespread recognition from its role in the story of Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland , and it has since become a fixture in popular culture , often as a symbol of extinction and obsolescence . It is frequently used as a mascot on Mauritius . 
