Overview
- The study, published in early August 2026 in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, used high-resolution CT scans of three dodo skulls, including the only two complete specimens held in Copenhagen and Oxford.
- Researchers reconstructed the brain cavities and found the forebrain size was what scientists would expect for a bird of the dodo’s bulk, providing no anatomical evidence that the species was less intelligent than living pigeons.
- An unusual sensory mix emerged from the scans: relatively large eyes paired with unusually small optic lobes and indications of an enlarged olfactory region and tactile beak adaptations, a pattern that points to crepuscular or low-light foraging and greater reliance on smell and touch.
- The team released the scan data and emphasized non-destructive museum CT methods so other researchers can test and expand the findings, while also cautioning that anatomical inference cannot prove behaviour and that olfactory comparisons remain limited.
- The work reframes why the dodo was easy prey in the 17th century by linking its trusting, predator-naive behaviour to island evolution rather than low intelligence, and it sets a new baseline for future studies of extinct island birds.