Despite historical portrayals, the dodo was a relatively intelligent bird that might have spent much of its life in the dark, new research suggests.
Dodos were traditionally portrayed as dumb, bumbling birds. But now, scientists have scanned dodo skulls and found nothing to suggest these birds were stupid. What they did find, however, was that the part of the dodo's brain that's responsible for visual processing was small — comparable to that of some nocturnal birds.
"Our interpretation is that this species was really, really not relying much on sight," study first author Sara Citron, a doctoral candidate in behavior and evolution at the University of Lethbridge in Canada, told Live Science. "And the only situation where you're not relying on sight is when there is no light available."
Dodos were wiped out within a century of humans settling on their island home of Maurit...
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