A rare 10-centimeter fragment of a dodo bone will go on sale in Britain in April, around 300 years after the flightless bird and icon of obsolescence was hunted to extinction.

"It is so rare for anyone to part with these prized items," said James Hyslop, head of Travel, Science and Natural History at Christie's auction house in South Kensington, London. "From its appearance in Alice in Wonderland to the expression 'dead as dodo', the bird has cemented its place in our cultural heritage."

The Western world first heard of dodos in 1598 when Dutch sailors reported seeing them on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Less than 100 years later, the birds had disappeared. Most experts say they were probably hunted down by successive waves of hungry sailors, and the pigs and other large animals they brought on to the island.

No complete specimens have survived - and scientists have been poring over fragments of remains for years to try and reconstruct what the dodo might have looked like.

Christie's did not say whether the thigh bone, part of an unnamed private English collection, would provide any fresh clues.

The bone is one of 260 lots in a Travel, Science and Natural History sale held by Christie's in London on April 24. The items are open to public viewing from April 20.

Reuters