Staying Power

We know the last stuffed specimen of the dodo burned

in 1755, though Wikipedia's "Dodo: Talk" page shows

sources conflict on whether the fire was an accident

or intentional. They say it had started to smell. The bird

meant little then but now enjoys a certain fame, as if

its absence caused the idea of the thing to grow. This week,

well-funded researchers are seeking what's left in the way

of concrete data—combining multiple skeletons to make

3D computer models. Previously unstudied bones of the dodo:

its kneecaps. We study most fervently what's gone, and then

what's going, like the emperor penguin. In Antarctica,

an investigative rover camouflaged as a chick mingles

with the flocks of black and white squawking on the ice, keeping tabs

so scientists can keep their distance. The rover was created

because penguins exhibit such high levels of agitation

from human contact. Unfortunately, drawing blood still requires

intervention, necessary because the more their habitat disappears,

the more actively we search for sudden changes in numbers, behavior—

We' re determined to get this loss down right, not like that fool bird

of Mauritius. Sorry, the Internet tells me that's a false

etymology from the Portuguese duodo meaning crazy or

foolish but it was actually the Dutch who sailed there, naming

the land after their prince and the bird dodoor for sluggard, or

was it dodaars for the tuft of feathers perched on its rear? Is it nothing

but a linguistic misstep that enthralls us? Linneaus

adding the already extinct bird to his elaborate network

in 1766—Didus ineptus, inept dodo. Now a decade ago,

Wikipedia contributor Wetman asked, was th[is] the first genus

and species given to an extinct animal? (No responses yet.)

Judging by its name alone, we can't help but question what

combination of natural forces bequeathed the earth this ill-formed

creature. I wonder further if we've given the flightless birds

of the arctic royal titles to make up for past wrongs—king penguin

and the larger emperor, but Wikipedia suggests no source for these names,

so I have to ask in the talk page. As for the dodo,

confusion persists over capitalization—blame Linneaus again—

Is dodo the common name or specific? Poor Paul writes, I was fixing

every single mention of the bird in the article when suddenly

I lost the courage of my convictions. No desperation like that

of a Wiki contributor, alone among many, awaiting

response. Even what's long gone refuses to hold still, refuses

to stabilize for the purposes of recording.

Source: Unlikely Designs (The University of Chicago Press, 2017)