A new study has revealed that dodo birds, long thought to be unintelligent, may have been as smart as pigeons. Led by Eugenia Gold, an instructor at Stony Brook University, the research was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The dodo (Raphus cucullatus), which went extinct in the 1600s, had a brain-to-body ratio comparable to that of pigeons, birds that are known to be trainable. Interestingly, the study also found that dodos had an enlarged olfactory bulb, indicating a strong sense of smell, which is uncommon in most birds. This study challenges the long-standing misconception of the dodo's lack of intelligence. Gold suggests that their reputation for being "dumb" may have stemmed from their fearlessness toward humans, which ultimately contributed to their rapid extinction after the arrival of humans and invasive species in Mauritius.

#DODOEmpowersMemeIssuance @DODO $DODO