 The volcanic island of Réunion is only three million years old , whereas Mauritius and Rodrigues , with each their flightless <unk> species , are eight to ten million years old , and it is unlikely that either bird would have been capable of flying after five or more million years of adapting to the islands . Therefore , it is unlikely that Réunion could have been colonised by flightless birds from these islands , and only flighted species on the island have relatives there . Three million years is enough time for flightless and weak flying abilities to have evolved in bird species on Réunion itself . But such species would have been wiped out by the eruption of the volcano <unk> des <unk> between 300 @,@ 000 and 180 @,@ 000 years ago . Most recent species would therefore likely be descendants of animals which had <unk> the island from Africa or Madagascar after this event , which is not enough time for a bird to become flightless . 
