Dodo Archives - New Historian

Dumb as a Dodo? Not So Much, Researchers Say

Raphus cucullatus, better known as the dodo, had a brain that was rather large for its size. The closest relative of the dodo, the simple and ubiquitous pigeon, has a brain-body size ratio roughly equivalent to that of its extinct cousin; pigeons can of course be trained, something that requires a modicum of intelligence. Dodos earned the reputation for being particularly dim thanks to the circumstances surrounding their extinction. The large-sized flightless bird was native to Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, and was found there when sailors discovered the island at the end of the sixteenth century. With the birds having never encountered humanity before, they had no reason to fear the sailors that would coax them onto boats to be used as a source of fresh meat; by 1662 the last dodo had disappeared from the island. Invasive species introduced to Mauritius also contributed to the dodo’s decline and extinction, according to Stony Brook University’s Eugenia Gold, the lead author of the new research paper. In an interview with Heritage Daily, Gold recounted how she approached London’s Natural History Museum in her endeavor to learn more about the curious bird. The museum had a well-preserved dodo skull in its collection and permitted the researcher to scan it using high-resolution computed tomography (CT). Gold then compared the image to those she made of the skulls of several different pigeon species at the Microscopy and Imaging Facility at the American Museum of Natural History. Gold’s results were startling. She found that the size of the dodo’s skull, and therefore its brain, in relation to the rest of its body, was “right on the line” compared to the pigeon examples she scanned herself and those provided by collaborators from the National Museum of Scotland and the Natural History Museum of Denmark. While the researcher was quick to say that there’s more to relative intelligence than simple brain size, the results provide a basic measurement tool, one that may help dispel the myth that the dodo was an exceedingly stupid example of a bird. The research also unearthed an insight in the morphology of the dodo by revealing the bird had a much larger olfactory bulb than most bird species. Most birds have highly developed optic lobes, showing a preference for visual acuity over the ability to process smells, but as the dodo was flightless, Gold and her co-authors have made the suggestion that the species relied on scent to help it hunt and scavenge for food sources on the ground. While the diet of the dodo is still an unsolved mystery, it’s likely it would have fed on shellfish and other marine animals, smaller land vertebrates, and even fruit from trees on the island. As a final mystery, the semicircular canal of the dodo – the region of the bird’s ear where it would have derived its sense of balance – incorporated a curvature described by the researchers as “unusual”. There are currently no viable theories as to this atypical biological construction. Gold’s research, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, can be found online here]]>

Bone from the Extinct Great Auk Unearthed at the Scottish Seabird Center An upper arm bone of the extinct Great Auk, also known as Scotland’s Dodo, was unearthed in an archeological dig at the Scottish Seabird Center at a location called the Kirk Ness site. Archaeologists were excavating the grounds of the Scottish Seabird Center when they uncovered this invaluable piece of bone fragment of the Great Auk, also known as Scotland’s Dodo. The archaeological dig, led by Addyman Archeology and supported by Historic Scotland, uncovered a number of invaluable animal bones belonging to the mid-18^th century, in addition to the bone of the Great Auk. This bone fragment was, reportedly, unearthed near the entrance area of an old building. The Great Auk, also called as Scotland’s Dodo, was a flightless, Penguin-like bird. The meter-tall bird, while extant, had a range that extended from north-eastern United States all the way across the Atlantic, and covered the British Isles and Northern parts of Spain and France. As the bird could not fly, it was an easy target for hunting. Moreover, it was a staple food of people in the Middle Ages, both because of its inability to fly and its availability in abundance. However, the Great Auk started experiencing a severe decline in its population because of massive hunting, until it finally became completely extinct by the middle of the 19^th century. The bird was last seen on St. Kilda British Waters in 1840. The Great Auks largely bred on the rocky and remote islands present in the Atlantic Ocean region. Since these islands provided great access to food, these birds flourished. The birds were also found on the coasts of Iceland, Greenland and Canada, and as far as the British and Norwegian coastlines. Mr. Tom Brock, Chief Executive of the Scottish Seabird Center said, “The discovery of the Great Auk bone on site at the Scottish Seabird Centre is fascinating but also very sad.We are so fortunate in Scotland to have a rich variety of seabirds and we must use the extinction of the Great Auk as a warning to future generations to look after our wonderful wildlife and the marine environment as an absolute priority.” Mr. Brock also said, “There are both behavioral and environmental lessons that must be taken from this internationally-important finding, and as an educational and conservation charity we will remain dedicated to inspiring people to enjoy, protect and learn about wildlife and the natural environment.” Although this excavation sheds light on the Great Auk and endangered wildlife, it is also believed be able to provide better insights into human society during the Middle Ages. Remains of various domestic buildings, in addition to the remnants of daily life at North Berwick, manage to provide us with a limited but encouraging glimpse of the way in which people and wildlife of East Lothian had been at that time. It will also help us gain a sounder understanding of extinction as a phenomenon, and help us make better decisions regarding our present-day environmental scenarios. Mr. Todd Addyman, of Addyman Archeology, said, “The discovery of the Great Auk bone at Kirk Ness is an illuminating find, as we seek to understand and document the importance of the area in the history of wildlife and human habitation in the Middle Ages. We hope that its discovery helps historians and conservation experts, such as the Scottish Seabird Centre, to educate future generations about the precious nature of our natural resources.” Senior Archeology manager of Historic Scotland, Mr. Rod McCullagh, said, “In the last two decades, there has been a renaissance in our understanding of the archaeology and history of early Medieval Scotland. The discovery of the remains of domestic buildings and the associated detritus of daily life at Kirk Ness gives us a glimpse of what ordinary life was like in East Lothian at this time. That ‘daily life’ involved the killing of such valuable birds as the Great Auk is no surprise but the discovery of this single bone perhaps attests to a time when hunting did not overwhelm such a vulnerable species.” ]]>