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Mass Dodo Graveyard Found

Dodo birds deserved to be extinct. They're not the brightest animals.

Didn't some report say 1,000 species become extinct every day? What makes the dodo bird so special?

Here's to the Crazy Ones ​
 
Mr. Anderson said:
Everyone knows about the Dodo...
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They sure do now. :D



images615084.jpg






But on topic, it seems extraordinary that they hadn't discovered more bones until now. Maybe there wasn't an imperative to do the kind of exploration necessary to find specimens like these.

According to Wikipedia — which doesn't have this recent news up there yet — it's a member of the pigeon family and doesn't taste very nice.
 
Lacero said:
Dodo birds deserved to be extinct. They're stupid animals. F them! :mad:

Didn't some report say 1,000 species become extinct every day? What makes the dodo bird so special?
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Whoa, did someone stay up too late last night?

When we start deciding what lives and what dies, or not caring as such, then we're playing God. Homo Sapiens have destroyed enough in the world, including some of each other.
 
I don't get your point at all. I sorta get Lacero's though.

All I know is that I have never had the chance to eat or hunt a Dodo, and damnit, the opportunity to do so would be nice. Hope they clone them.
 
Lacero said:
Dodo birds deserved to be extinct. They're not the brightest animals.

Didn't some report say 1,000 species become extinct every day? What makes the dodo bird so special?
Click to expand...


Major misconception there - its not about being stupid :rolleyes:

The dodos evolved on an island with no natural predators - so when westerners showed up with guns, they were easy pickings and eventually became extinct.

And what's so special? They were the first well known and widely known animal to go extinct - it showed humans for the first time that we could radically change the world in ways that hadn't been thought of before. A lot of it has to do with religion of the time, but imagine at a time of Darwinism and the ability of man to destroy a whole species. Quite scary and its only going to get worse, but the dodo is effectively the poster child for all those 1000s of species that have gone since and will in the future.

D
 
Mr. Anderson said:
Major misconception there - its not about being stupid :rolleyes:

The dodos evolved on an island with no natural predators - so when westerners showed up with guns, they were easy pickings and eventually became extinct.

And what's so special? They were the first well known and widely known animal to go extinct - it showed humans for the first time that we could radically change the world in ways that hadn't been thought of before. A lot of it has to do with religion of the time, but imagine at a time of Darwinism and the ability of man to destroy a whole species. Quite scary and its only going to get worse, but the dodo is effectively the poster child for all those 1000s of species that have gone since and will in the future.

D
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exactly...
 
Mr. Anderson said:
The dodos evolved on an island with no natural predators - so when westerners showed up with guns, they were easy pickings and eventually became extinct.
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I believe a lot of Dodos also fell prey to dogs brought into their habitat. And as Blue mentions they weren't that tasty (very fatty, greasy flesh, apparently), so there was no need to keep them around for food. If they hadn't bothered evolving into a tasty meal, there's no point us having them around, right? :p
 
you know if we clone them theyll just die again. Anyone who has seen ice age knows that Do Dos wernt meant to live :)

On the upside squirels can live in ice cubes.

you know the first time i saw that movie I found a squirel frozen in an ice cupe in my back yard. I swear im not kidding. It fell into an old trash can filled with water, the water forze and walla. Squirel Sikle.
 
Mr. Anderson said:
Major misconception there - its not about being stupid :rolleyes:

The dodos evolved on an island with no natural predators - so when westerners showed up with guns, they were easy pickings and eventually became extinct.
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I didn't know John Wayne, Roy Rogers, et al killed the Dodos? Also, guns were totally irrelevant since the bird was fat, slow, and flightless. A stone or stick would have been as effective as anything. But, it was the animals brought with the Portugese and Dutch that was the direct cause of the extinction.

Mr. Anderson said:
And what's so special? They were the first well known and widely known animal to go extinct - it showed humans for the first time that we could radically change the world in ways that hadn't been thought of before. A lot of it has to do with religion of the time, but imagine at a time of Darwinism and the ability of man to destroy a whole species. Quite scary and its only going to get worse, but the dodo is effectively the poster child for all those 1000s of species that have gone since and will in the future.
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I think Lacero's point is a good one. The Dodo was an overspecialized species doomed to extinction as soon as a predator came along. It just happened that the predator(s) in question hitched a ride on our boats. Same thing happened in Polynesia and Australia (and North/South America, Europe, Asia, Africa....). The story is not unique or special. It just is. A species became extinct because it lost it's ability to compete and survive. When those traits became necessary (as will always be the case), the Dodo was doomed.

I think the story of Hawaii's bird extinctions is much more special and interesting.
 
There's a big difference between natural extinction and human related extinction. The panda is definitely a candidate for natural extinction and there are many species in the rainforests whose reproductive cycles are so narrowly defined that any small disturbance would kill them off.

It's sad to see so many large land mammals on the verge.
 
AP_piano295 said:
you know if we clone them theyll just die again.
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Hilarious, stupid, and most likely true.

So would the opposite of the dodo be the puggle? They shouldn't exist, but we created them. And they're going to survive because we're going to perpetuate their survival. Even if they try to die, we'll force them to survive.

Probably because they're cuter than the dodo. Maybe less greasy.
 
Ugg said:
There's a big difference between natural extinction and human related extinction.
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Sometimes yes, sometimes no. In this case, there is not much difference at all.

If a species becomes extinct because of human predation, that to me is as natural as it gets. Extinction caused by willful extermination, indiscriminate habitat destruction, or unintentional actions (DDT usage for instance) is in a different category. If forced, I still call it natural but I would recognize the distinction.
 
Much has been made of extinction and rightly so but an excellent book about the proliferation of species in relation to man is "The Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/103-6890377-1841459?url=index%3Dstripbooks%3Arelevance-above&field-keywords=the+botany+of+desire&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go

The book follows 4 species and their relationship to man: the tulip, marijuana, the apple and the potato.

It's a fascinating read and I highly recommend it. The potato chapters are mostly about genetically modified food and it made me rethink some aspects of genetic modification.

The chapters on marijuana are fascinating because the majority of marijuana hybridization has occurred as a direct result of Reagan's war on drugs.

Most apples sold in stores are not a result of breeding efforts but chance hybrids and the apple's popularity in the US is a direct result of John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed.

The tulip is a fascinating study on the results of overbreeding. Tulips that are multi colored owe this characteristic to a virus, because of this virus, tulip farmers are only able to raise tulips once every five years in the same field.
 
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Lacero said:
Dodo birds deserved to be extinct. They're not the brightest animals.

Didn't some report say 1,000 species become extinct every day? What makes the dodo bird so special?
Click to expand...

Just because a bird is fat, flightless, and slow (not mentally) that does not give mankind to ride it. Raptors were also flightless birds, however they were smart and had claws to match.

What if mankind found itself in the position as the Dodo, would you be so inclined to have the same opinion. :rolleyes:

Humanity has almost stripped the oceans, and the wildlife around the world. All in the name of greed and gluttony. :(
 
Ugg said:
Much has been made of extinction and rightly so but an excellent book about the proliferation of species in relation to man is "The Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan.
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I read a similar book back in college, looks like an interesting read. Thanks for the recommendation.
 
maya said:
Just because a bird is fat, flightless, and slow (not mentally) that does not give mankind to ride it.
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I assume you meant "right to kill it"...?

Actually, yes it does. Food is food and if you spend less energy catching it - so much the better.

I would say, it is not very smart to willfully extinct an entire species.
 
hmmfe said:
I assume you meant "right to kill it"...?

Actually, yes it does. Food is food and if you spend less energy catching it - so much the better.

I would say, it is not very smart to willfully extinct an entire species.
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So with that logic, I hear quite a far bit of the American, British, and Canadian population is overweight. So according to they own diet and gluttony they should just forget about doctors and scientists helping them to find a reason why and try to cure they gluttony. No wonder they pharmaceuticals make a crazy load of $$$ along with diet companies. :rolleyes:

And most of this is after educating the population that eating without exercise it a negative thing to ones health, yet they do it regardless. I say they deserve what they placed upon themselves. :rolleyes:
 
maya said:
So with that logic, I hear quite a far bit of the American, British, and Canadian population is overweight.
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Actually, my argument is more like this...

Let's say there is a newly evolved species of bear that has developed a taste for humans (Canadian, British, American, Tibetans, whatever). Now these humans are fat and slow. The bears, being what they are, chase humans and catch the slow ones and eat them. In my view the bears have the right to catch and eat slow fat people. And, the slow fat people have the right to buy guns and kill the bears.

I am not sure where you are going with the whole pharmaceutical company thing...
 
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