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7/25/2019 Bird Brain.docx
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Bird Brain? Dodos Were Not So Dumb After
All
The dodo is an extinct flightless bird whose name has become synonymous withstupidity.
But it turns out that the dodo was no bird brain, but instead a reasonably brainy bird.
Scientists said on Wednesday they figured out the dodo's brain size and structure
based on an analysis of a well-presered s!ull from a museum collection. They
determined its brain was not unusually small but rather completely in proportion to its
body size.
They also found the dodo may hae had a better sense of smell than most birds, with
an enlarged olfactory region of the brain. This trait, unusual for birds, probably let it sniff
out ripe fruit to eat.
The research suggests the dodo, rather than being stupid, boasted at least the same
intelligence as its fellow members of the pigeon and doe family.
"#f we ta!e brain size - or rather, olume, as we measured here - as a proxy for
intelligence, then the dodo was as smart as a common pigeon," paleontologist $ugenia
%old of Stony Broo! &niersity in ew (or! state said. ")ommon pigeons are actually
smarter than they get credit for, as they were trained as message carriers during the
world wars."
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*#+$ - s!eleton of a auritius odo bird which was found in a cae at the
foot of +e /ouce ountain at /ailles, in 0122, stands at an exhibition in the auritius #nstitute useum in /ort +ouis, ec. 34, 3225.
The dodo lied on the #ndian 6cean island of auritius. The weird-loo!ing, ground-
nesting bird had a pointed bea! and rounded head, stood about three feet 7one meter8tall and weighed up to about 52 pounds 739 !g8.
rien into extinction largely by human hunting, the last dodo was seen in 0::3.
%old said dodos exhibited no fear of humans when people reached auritius in the
0522s.
"Why would they fear something they'e neer seen; They had no natural predators on
the islands before humans arried. Because of this, sailors herded the birds onto theirboats for fresh meat later in their oyages. Their willingness to be drien onto the boats
is, # thin!, what led to people thin!ing they were dumb. #t is rather unfair," %old said.
ew Study Suggests We re lone in &nierse
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Since the unierse is so huge, most astronomers thin! that there must be a planet,
somewhere out there, similar to $arth. But a computer model created at Swedenuintillion planets, or 4 followed by 32 zeros.
The unexpected by-product of the calculation was that $arth may be uni>ue, actually an
aberration among myriads of dead, uninhabitable worlds.
Ta!ing into account all !nown laws of physics and our !nowledge about how planets are
formed, it loo!s li!e that process is capable of producing only planets that cannot
sustain life in any form.
/robability suggests that ?ust in our own galaxy, the il!y Way, there must be about 52
billion planets similar to ours. But according to =ac!risson
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