The extinct dodo was just as intelligent as modern pigeons, according to scientists who analyzed the brain structure of rare preserved skulls using CT scans.
Researchers reconstructed the brain of the flightless Mauritian bird and discovered its forebrain, which governs memory and cognition, was proportional to that of living pigeon species relative to its body size.
The findings debunk the centuries-old reputation of the dodo as a foolish simpleton, revealing instead that the creature possessed high-level cognitive capacity and may have even possessed the rare ability to see in the dark.
Modern pigeons are recognized by scientists as intelligent birds capable of identifying human faces, solving complex puzzles, and learning to read simple words.
Debunking the stereotype of a foolish bird
For centuries, the dodo has served as the butt of jokes, with its name becoming cultural shorthand for an individual considered dim-witted, hopeless, or destined for failure.
The bird originally received its name from the Portuguese word for "fool" after European colonialists mocked its apparent lack of fear around human hunters.
Professor Vera Weisbecker, an expert from Flinders University, explained that the new brain research directly contradicts those historical assumptions.
Writing on The Conversation, Professor Weisbecker stated: "Our findings challenge the longstanding stereotype of the dodo as a clumsy, foolish daytime forager. Instead, we may need to picture it navigating the dim Mauritian forests at sunrise or sunset and behaving with the same level of intelligence as its living pigeon relatives."
To conduct the study, Professor Weisbecker collaborated with Professor Andrew Iwaniuk and researcher Sara Citron from the University of Lethbridge. The research team performed high-resolution CT scans on three perfectly preserved dodo skulls, which represent the only three such specimens known to exist in the world.
By mapping the internal skull structures, the scientists were able to model the exact size and shape of the dodo's brain before comparing it to other members of the pigeon family.
"When we compared the dodo's brain to that of pigeons, we found that the dodo's forebrain, linked to cognition and memory, was similar in proportion to other pigeons, when compared to the rest of the brain," the researchers explained.
"In other words, there is no evidence the dodo was less intelligent than any other pigeon," the team added.
Evolution in isolation without natural predators
The study highlights that the dodo's famously trusting behavior was a natural consequence of evolving in an isolated island environment rather than a sign of low intelligence.
The flightless bird evolved on the remote island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, where it lived for centuries without any natural predators or enemies.
Because the dodo had never encountered threats, it reportedly approached arriving humans out of curiosity rather than fleeing from them.
"So we think the dodo's trusting behaviour was because it simply had nothing to fear until humans arrived, as is common for island species with no predators," the research team noted.
Historical accounts from early visitors illustrate how defenseless the birds were on the island.
"Early accounts even describe people holding a captured dodo and letting it cry out so others would wander over," the scientists said.
Evidence of a unique nocturnal lifestyle
In addition to evaluating cognitive capacity, the researchers uncovered physical evidence suggesting the dodo was active during dawn, dusk, or nighttime hours.
If confirmed by further research, the dodo would be classified as the world's only known nocturnal pigeon species.
The CT scans revealed that the dodo had relatively large eye sockets paired with unusually small optic lobes, a unique anatomical combination found in several species of nocturnal birds.
Comparative anatomical scans measuring the skull and brain shapes of the dodo, the solitaire, and the Nicobar pigeon showed that the dodo's optic lobe was significantly smaller than those of the other two bird species.
Extinction history and basic biology
Known scientifically as Raphus cucullatus, the dodo was a heavy flightless bird that stood three feet (one metre) tall and weighed between 23 and 39 pounds (10 to 18 kilograms).
The species was native exclusively to the island of Mauritius, located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, where it inhabited dense woodland forests.
Before human contact, the dodo survived in bliss for centuries, successfully occupying a specialized ecological niche without interference from predators.
Dutch sailors recorded the first confirmed sighting of the dodo in 1598. However, human settlement rapidly transformed the island ecosystem.
Visiting sailors and new settlers hunted the docile birds for food. Simultaneously, introduced invasive animals, including dogs, cats, pigs, and monkeys, preyed heavily on dodo eggs laid in ground nests.
The entire population was wiped out in a single lifetime. The last confirmed sighting of a living dodo occurred in 1662, just 64 years after humans first documented the species.
Scientific efforts to bring the dodo back
More than 350 years after its extinction, scientists are attempting to resurrect the dodo using cutting-edge biotechnology and stem cell editing.
Researchers at Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based "de-extinction" company, are leading an ambitious project to bring the extinct species back to life.
Colossal Biosciences, led by executive Mr Lamm, is also working on parallel projects to resurrect other lost animals, including the woolly mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger.
To revive the dodo, scientists at the company successfully cultured primordial germ cells from the Nicobar pigeon, which is the dodo's closest living genetic relative. These specialized stem cells have the capacity to develop into either sperm or eggs.
The next phase of the project involves editing the Nicobar pigeon cells with dodo DNA before transferring the edited genetic material into surrogate chickens that have undergone gene editing.
Scientists project that the modified chickens will be able to lay viable dodo eggs, potentially allowing the first new dodos since the 17th century to hatch by the turn of the decade.
Colossal Biosciences has established a partnership with The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation to evaluate suitable habitats on Mauritius for releasing the resurrected birds.
Mr Lamm stated that the ultimate goal of the initiative is to establish "thousands" of dodos on Mauritius with sufficient genetic diversity to protect the population from disease outbreaks.
However, external experts have raised questions regarding the feasibility of the plan, noting the extreme technical challenge of replicating 100 percent of an extinct creature's genetic sequence and questioning whether the resulting animals would truly be authentic dodos.
