"It's kind of cool to know more information about that individual [dodo], but it isn't surprising that lots of people went to Mauritius and ate these animals," says Seymour, assistant curator of the Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto — the only museum in Canada with a dodo skeletal display. It was always thought the Oxford Dodo survived the fate of its kin, and was brought back alive from Mauritius, ending up as an exotic curiosity on the streets of London. It's invaluable to research, says the university's Prof. Paul Smith. The Oxford Dodo is the most well-preserved example of the extinct bird on Earth and still contains soft tissue and DNA which could be used one day to resurrect the species. Image copyright University of Warwick Image caption The University of Warwick has used the latest technology to scan the mummified dodo remains 
 
 A chance to put the Oxford dodo into the state-of-the-art scanners at WMG at Warwick University was not just an amazing opportunity, it was also a chance to right a historical scientific wrong - to treat the sad story of the demise of the dodo with a bit more respect this time around. "I think there's a good chance this bird was either shot in its habitat or maybe even kept captive on a ship and shot for food." Perhaps finally after centuries of neglect, the dodo is getting the attention and respect it really deserves.
– Scientists used the latest forensic scanning technology to look inside the world's most famous dodo specimen in the hope of learning more about the anatomy of the bird that went extinct on Mauritius 350 years ago. "In our wildest dreams we never expected to find what we did," says University of Warwick researcher Mark Williams. They uncovered what the CBC labels a "dodo whodunit." Though scientists had assumed the dodo kept at Oxford University Museum of Natural History died of natural causes, inside its mummified skull were 20 to 30 "metallic high-density particles" that left no doubt how the male bird met its end: "He was shot in the back of the head with a shotgun," Williams says, adding "we could be looking at the first examples of lead shots ever used to hunt game birds." Now begins the search for the culprit: Museum director Paul Smith says a chemical analysis of the lead pellets will hopefully reveal "what country the shot was made in so we could then determine who killed the dodo." The Oxford specimen—the most complete dodo to be found and the only one to contain soft tissue and viable DNA—was previously thought to be from a dodo displayed in London in 1638 before its natural death, per the Telegraph. "Was it shot in the UK? More likely, was it shot in the Mauritius and then transferred to the UK? Was it shot for food on a ship?" Williams wonders, per Live Science. The dodo was later acquired by King Charles II's gardener and passed to Oxford, where it is said to have inspired Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll, reports the BBC. (Dodos shed their feathers.)