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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz to c/biology@mander.xyz

“The majority of this knowledge was established after its disappearance in the late-17th century because, despite surviving the arrival of humans on Mauritius for several decades, only limited and often inaccurate information on its behavior and ecology were recorded when the species was still alive, and no skins were preserved.”

“With respect to its behavior, it is inferred that it nested on the ground and showed little fear of humans. The latter is a common trait in island-dwelling species with no mammalian predators, and contributed to the unfair portrayal of the dodo as ‘stupid’.”

...

“We are quite confident that dodos were active at dawn, dusk or night-time, which would make it the only nocturnal pigeon in the world.”

“Perhaps this gave it an advantage over the many strictly day-active turtles that lived on Mauritius.”

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[-] The_v@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

Like in other places, the sailors introduced non-native species into a closed ecosystem.

they introduced other animals, including dogs, pigs, cats, rats, and crab-eating macaques, which plundered dodo nests and competed for the limited food resources.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo

this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2026
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