Solemnly for birds that are extinct by humans

Dodo - the bird that was massacred by humans to the point of extinction - has always been labeled "stupid, stupid". However, a recent study found that this is a fairly intelligent species with special abilities.

Why are dodo birds extinct?

The dodo bird - also known as the cuckoo, the cuckoo , the scientific name Raphus cucullatus, a relative of today's dove - mainly lives in the Indian island of Mauritius . They are the descendants of the winged ancient creatures, which once dominated the islands of Mauritius, Reunion, Rodriguez in the Indian Ocean region.

Pictures of dodo birds at the Museum of Natural History at Oxford University (England).(Photo: Wikimedia).

This is a large bird that has received special attention from the scientific community due to differences in body structure compared to modern birds. They do not fly and move slowly due to their very fat bodies (weighing 18-25kg). This species nest and lay eggs on the ground, because the island of Mauritius does not have any predators or animals capable of endangering dodo, eggs and their offspring.

But everything changed in 1507 when Portuguese explorers stopped by Mauritius island. They were surprised to see that dodo birds were not afraid of people, so it was easy for them to catch meat. Since then, boats often stayed in Mauritius Island and captured dodo birds as reserve food for long trips. I don't know how many dodo birds were caught and killed.

During this period, explorers also brought some dodo birds to Europe. Lewis Carroll - author of "Alice in the Wonderland" - is probably one of the most impressive people of this bird when he built it into a character in his famous book. However, the sad thing is that being brought to Europe does not help this particular bird escape the disaster of extinction. Although there is no exact evidence yet, scientists believe that the dodo bird was eventually killed in 1690.

This large bird is extinct not only because of its mass killings. The fact that humans bring to Mauritius many alien species such as rats, monkeys, pigs . are also important factors that make dodo birds completely disappear on Earth, because of their eggs and juveniles (in nests built on the ground) are destroyed by alien species.

Dodo birds are not stupid

Man is not only the main culprit for the dodo bird to be exterminated, but also to speak badly for this species. Dodo in Portuguese means stupid. In some Western countries, dodo birds are a symbol of stupidity in popular culture. However, the National Museum of Scotland and the Danish Museum of Natural History have just published a new study showing that this animal is quite intelligent and has special abilities.

In fact, Dodo birds are quite intelligent.

The team analyzed the well-preserved skull of the dodo at the UK National Museum of History in London, comparing it to the seven modern dove species. Eugenia Gold, the leader of the research team, said the dodo skull is quite large compared to body size. This ratio is equivalent to pigeons. This proves that dodo birds are quite intelligent, because many studies have demonstrated that pigeons have a very good intellectual ability compared to many other animals. This bird symbolizing peace can be trained to do some special things like postage, navigation .

"Our research shows that dodo birds are quite clever. They are considered stupid to let humans catch easily, because on the island of Mauritius, they do not face any threat, so they are not aware. "It's dangerous to meet people," said Eugenia Gold.

Further analysis of the bird, the scientists also found that the dodo brain has a very developed part: The sense of smell is superior to that of other animals. Because dodo resides underground, they develop their sense of smell to hunt for food including fruits and marine animals such as oysters .

In addition, the team also discovered the ear structure especially with the unusual curvature of the dodo bird. However, they still have not found an explanation for this phenomenon.