Murder most fowl: Oxford dodo 'shot in the back of the head'

Revelation astonishes experts, who thought the renowned bird lived out its life in London as a money-spinning curiosity

With its plump head and bulbous beak, the renowned remains of a dodo at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History have long captivated visitors, Lewis Carroll among them. Now researchers say they have uncovered how the dodo died - a discovery that makes the old bird's past curiouser and curiouser.

Researchers used a form of CT scanning and sophisticated software to probe the anatomy and habits of the Oxford dodo - the world's best preserved specimen of the bird - and discovered the animal was shot in the back of the head and neck with lead pellets.