Changes

|conservation=Extinct

|conservation=Extinct

}}

}}

The '''dodo,''' (''Didus ineptus'' L., now ''Raphus cucullatus'') was a large bird incapable of flying.  They weighed an astounding 50 pounds and lived on the islands of [[Mauritius]] off the coast of east [[Africa]].

The '''dodo,''' (''Didus ineptus'' L., now ''Raphus cucullatus'') was a large bird incapable of flying.  They weighed an astounding 50 pounds and lived on the islands of [[Mauritius]] off the coast of east [[Africa]]. The very fact that the dodo was a distinct species found on a remote chain of islands is clear and obvious evidence of evolution.  

The dodo became extinct in the late 1600s, and [[environmentalist]]s blame human activity for this [[extinction]]; this idea is overwhelmingly supported by most known evidence.  However, numerous species have always gone extinct each decade with or ''without'' human activity to blame.{{fact}}  For example, the dodo might have been wiped out by disease <ref>http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/AboutUs/MinistersAndDepartmentLeaders/ChiefMedicalOfficer/Features/DH_4102997</ref>.  But the dodo captured people's imagination as one of the first recorded extinctions.  The current leading scientific theory is that humans helped drive the dodo to extinction by bringing along rats and other animals to the island which damaged dodo habitats and destroyed dodo eggs,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3281323.stm]</ref> with human hunting also contributing to this. The introduction of humans and other animals was a threat to the dodo because it has been without any predators for the entirety of its existence, making it completely unafraid of humans and other new dangerous animals that humans introduced.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/2255991.stm</ref> Some recent evidence suggest that a natural disaster may have already put the species into decline before the arrival of humans;<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1678225.htm]</ref> however, scientists conjecture that if such a disaster did in fact happen, it would not be sufficient enough to wipe out the dodo in its entirety and instead would just have expedited the effects of human intervention. The dodo was first sighted by humans in the early 1500s and it was extinct by the late 1600s; since it was not known by humans for very long and it was generally an unremarkable animal, the dodo quickly faded from people's minds and many actually thought of it as a myth until bones were discovered in the early 1800s.

The dodo became extinct in the late 1600s, and [[environmentalist]]s blame human activity for this [[extinction]]; this idea is overwhelmingly supported by most known evidence.  However, numerous species have always gone extinct each decade with or ''without'' human activity to blame.{{fact}}  For example, the dodo might have been wiped out by disease <ref>http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/AboutUs/MinistersAndDepartmentLeaders/ChiefMedicalOfficer/Features/DH_4102997</ref>.  But the dodo captured people's imagination as one of the first recorded extinctions.  The current leading scientific theory is that humans helped drive the dodo to extinction by bringing along rats and other animals to the island which damaged dodo habitats and destroyed dodo eggs,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3281323.stm]</ref> with human hunting also contributing to this. The introduction of humans and other animals was a threat to the dodo because it has been without any predators for the entirety of its existence, so there was no evolutionary need to have special features to evade predators.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/2255991.stm</ref> Some recent evidence suggest that a natural disaster may have already put the species into decline before the arrival of humans;<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1678225.htm]</ref> however, scientists conjecture that if such a disaster did in fact happen, it would not be sufficient enough to wipe out the dodo in its entirety and instead would just have expedited the effects of human intervention. The dodo was first sighted by humans in the early 1500s and it was extinct by the late 1600s; since it was not known by humans for very long and it was generally an unremarkable animal, the dodo quickly faded from people's minds and many actually thought of it as a myth until bones were discovered in the early 1800s.

The dodo has become emblematic for extinction, as in the expression "as dead as the dodo." Humorist [[Will Cuppy]] wrote, jokingly:

The dodo has become emblematic for extinction, as in the expression "as dead as the dodo." Humorist [[Will Cuppy]] wrote, jokingly: