Dodo

[[File:ExtinctDodoBird.jpeg|thumb|right|165px|A fat dodo.]]{{biology}}
The '''dodo''' was a flightless [[bird]] [[Common descent|related]] to doves and pigeons (it was cladistically a pigeon itself as it was a member of the same order, Columbidae) that was native to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. While humans hunted the dodo, the main reason why they went [[extinct]] was likely because of [[dog]]s, [[cat]]s, [[pig]]s, rats, mice, and other invasive species destroying their nests and eating their eggs, thus preventing new generations and ensuring that the older generation (which would be too old to breed at that point) would be the final generation and was the final nail in the coffin on their road to extinction.<ref>[https://birdfact.com/articles/when-did-the-dodo-bird-go-extinct When Did The Dodo Bird Go Extinct?], ''Birdfact''</ref>

The dodo has become a byword for any creature that is doomed to extinction because it can't [[Adaptation|adapt]] to its environment, which is in contrast to its distant and still-living relative, the {{wpl|rock dove||,}} which has adapted and benefited extremely well from human exploitation ([[scapegoat|and being hated by humans for its success]]): it went from being an endemic European cliff-dwelling bird to a bird with cosmopolitan population on every continent except [[Antarctica]].<ref>[http://slowbirding.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/rock-pigeons-rats-with-wings-or-thoroughbreds-of-the-air/ Rock Pigeons: Rats with Wings or Thoroughbreds of the Air?]</ref>

==Misconceptions==
The dodo is famous for its reputation for being stupid. However, because it was at the top of the food chain in its own little [[ecology|ecosystem]], it had no natural predators and thus, had no reason to fear other creatures (such as the humans who discovered the island). It wasn't stupidity that caused the downfall of the dodos, it was [[ignorance]] due to a lack of innate fear of humans and other invasive species as these birds lived in isolation free from any predators.<ref>[http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/06/why-the-dodo-went-extinct/ WHY THE DODO WENT EXTINCT] Today I Found Out</ref>

Surprisingly, for such a famous bird, little is known of its appearance or behaviors; by the time [[science|scientists]] became interested, it was already [[extinct]], a testament to the destructive power of our species.

Also contrary to popular conception, dodos were not pudgy, waddling tubs of lard that could barely get around.  Most paintings of them (such as the one on this page) were made after the birds had been confined on a long sea voyage, with plentiful food and unable to exercise.  Early drawings by sailors show them to have been slender, and sailors' descriptions of them mention that they could run very fast.  Minus the head and beak, a wild dodo may have looked more like a scaled-down emu with a shorter neck.

==In popular culture==
Dodos are a well known extinct species within the public sphere. Because of their status as extinct animals, they have often been associated with Ice Age megafauna (mostly North American) such as saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths (a trend which was kicked off by the animated film ''Ice Age''). However, dodos are not Ice Age animals, as they recently appeared during the [[Holocene]] and were only found in Mauritius, far from any Ice Age animals in location and in time period (if anything, they’re closer to African animals such as elephants and lions as Mauritius is regionally part of Africa).

Another example of the dodo in popular culture would be in the 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' by [[Lewis Carroll]], in which a character simply known as "The Dodo" appears.

==References==
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[[Category:African animals]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
{{stub|biology}}

Categories: African animals, Animals, Biology, Dinosaurs