Contrary to popular belief, new research published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society on Feb. 23 suggests the dodo - an extinct, flightless bird - was not so dumb after all. In fact, it may have been pretty intelligent, and most likely had a very keen sense of smell.
Eugenia Gold, the lead author of the study, examined a well-preserved dodo skull from the Natural History Museum of London through computed tomography (CT) scanning. She also scanned the skulls of seven pigeon species, and according to Gold, the size of the dodo’s brain was “right on the line.” The scans of the dodo also revealed a rather large olfactory bulb, which is responsible for processing smells in the brain. This suggests the bird may have relied heavily on its sense of smell to find food.
“The dodo’s brain is exactly the size you would predict it to be for its body size,” Gold said. “So if you take brain size as a proxy for intelligence, dodos probably had a similar intelligence level to pigeons.” Although pigeons are also often mistaken for being dim-witted, studies find they have counting abilities similar to those of rhesus monkeys.
Dodo birds were last seen on the island of Mauritius in 1662. They were also known for their trusting nature. “The dodos living there had no fear of humans and they were herded onto boats and used as fresh meat for sailors,” Gold said. “Because of that behavior and invasive species that were introduced to the island, they disappeared less than 100 years after humans arrived.”