Dodo goes under the hammer at Billingshurst for £346,000

The auction house sold the 95 per cent complete skeleton at its fourth Evolution this afternoon (Tuesday, November 22).

It went to a private collector over the phone.

The dodo bones had been collected by a dodo enthusiast for 40 years until he realised he had enough bones to create an almost complete skeleton. There are only about 12 similarly complete skeletons in existence and they are all in museums around the world.

First seen by Dutch sailors in September 1598, the dodo became extinct 70 years after its discovery.

It is unlikely another skeleton will ever come up for auction as newly discovered bones from Mauritius where the vast majority of Dodo bones were found in the 19th century – will not be for sale. The Mauritian Government has banned all exports.

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