The Dodo Was Not Stupid, New Research Shows

Depictions of dodos often make them appear absurdly witless, and the bird's name has become associated with insults such as 'dolt' and 'boofhead'. Yet the dodo's story may be a far better example of blaming the victim.

Having examined 400 years of published writing, UK researchers are attempting to correct the historical record: dodos were neither lumbering nor foolish.

The dodo's true nature

"Evidence from bone specimens suggests that the Dodo's tendon which closed its toes was exceptionally powerful, analogous to climbing and running birds alive today," says University of Southampton paleobiologist Neil Gostling. "The dodo was almost certainly a very active, very fast animal."

What is known about this celebrated extinct bird has largely come from Dutch sailors' second-hand reports, artistic depictions and incomplete skeletal remains. For many years, its unusual appearance and swift extinction meant it was even dismissed as a fantastical, mythical creature.

"More has been written about the Dodo than any other bird, yet virtually nothing is known about it in life," explains avian paleontologist Julian Hume from the Natural History Museum in the UK.

For centuries, researchers also disputed how many dodo species existed. By studying museum collections across the UK alongside historical documents, University of Southampton evolutionary biologist Mark Young and his colleagues have worked through this taxonomic uncertainty.

Their assessment confirmed that the dodo, Raphus cucullatus, was a single species. It also established that its nearest relative, the Rodrigues solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria), belonged with it among the columbids: the pigeon and dove family, whose distinctive intelligence humans have long put to use.

Beyond their impressive abilities as carrier pigeons, birds in this group have shown self-recognition and an ability to operate touchscreens.

"The few written accounts of live Dodos say it was a fast-moving animal that loved the forest," says Young.

This evidence strongly contradicts the image of a stupid, 'unfit' creature that stumbled helplessly towards its own extinction.

Why dodos became extinct

"These creatures were perfectly adapted to their environment, but the islands they lived on lacked mammalian predators," says Gostling. "So, when humans arrived, bringing rats, cats, and pigs, the Dodo and the Solitaire never stood a chance."

On Mauritius, it took roughly 70 years for these newly introduced island inhabitants to consume dodos and their eggs until none remained. The last documented observation of the distinctive ground dove dates to 1662. The swan-sized solitaire suffered the same outcome by 1770.

A warning for endangered species

Since then, this pattern has been repeated again and again. Animals ranging from the highly intelligent, endangered kea parrot to the world's rarest insects and the extinct thylacine have often struggled when faced with people and the invasive species they introduce. This process is now helping drive Earth's sixth mass extinction.

About 600 species are currently at risk from non-native predators brought in by humans.

"The Dodo was the first living thing that was recorded as being present and then disappeared," says Gostling.

"Before this, it hadn't been thought possible for human beings to influence God's creation in such a way."

These beliefs enabled people to cause immeasurable harm to the natural world. When the dodo was eradicated, humans did not understand the consequences, but that is certainly no longer the case. We now recognise that our combined actions can even change the planet's physical properties.

Young and his team's review marks the first stage of a broader effort to understand these vanished species more fully.

"We are not just looking back in time – our research could help save today's endangered birds too," says University of Southampton biomechanical engineer Markus Heller.

The review appeared in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.