What High-Resolution Scans of the Dodo's Skull Show

An international research team has used high-resolution CT scanning to peer inside the world's only two complete dodo skulls, held at the Natural History Museum Denmark and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The digital reconstructions, led by researchers at the University of Lethbridge in Canada, focused on the cavity where the bird's brain once sat, because a developing brain leaves impressions on the surrounding bone.

The scans suggest the dodo's sensory experience differed from that of its closest living relatives, modern pigeons and doves. The bird may have been active not only during daylight but also around dawn and dusk, relied more on smell, and used its large upper beak to gather tactile information from its island environment on Mauritius.

Preparations for a new museum building and permanent galleries opening in 2027 gave researchers an unusual chance to study the Copenhagen specimen in greater detail without damaging it. The non-invasive method produced a detailed three-dimensional model, allowing scientists to compare the two complete skulls and identify features likely typical of the species.

The findings, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, do not resolve every question about dodo behavior, but they provide a stronger anatomical foundation for understanding how the bird lived before its extinction in the late 17th century.

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How the Dodo's Sensory Rebuild Challenges an Old Caricature

What the Copenhagen and Oxford Specimens Reveal

The study's value rests on rarity: only two complete dodo skulls exist, so comparing digital models of both is the first opportunity to separate species-typical anatomy from individual variation. The reconstructed brain cavity suggests a different sensory balance from living pigeons and doves, with a sharper sense of smell and a beak better suited to touch. These are anatomical clues rather than direct observations of behavior.

Replacing the "Dumb Dodo" with a More Complex Animal

The popular image of the dodo as clumsy and unintelligent, sometimes used to suggest its extinction was nearly inevitable, is not supported by the new data. The researchers found no evidence of reduced cognitive ability compared with living pigeons and doves. Instead, the skull points to a bird with a distinctive set of sensory adaptations shaped over millions of years on an isolated island.

Why Anatomy Alone Cannot Settle Behavior

The scientists are explicit that skull structure cannot provide a complete account of how the dodo behaved. Smell, touch and timing of activity are inferred from preserved impressions and comparisons with living relatives, so the conclusions remain probabilistic. Even so, combining CT data from several specimens—including the only two complete skulls in existence—moves the discussion from centuries of speculation to a more evidence-based framework for future research.