Episode 226 - Dodos

The Common Descent Podcast

Common Descent

Science, Natural Sciences, Education, Earth Sciences, Science:natural Sciences

4.8 • 764 Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2025

⏱️ 125 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dodos are probably the single most famous case of recent human-induced extinction. First documented in the late 1500s and extinct within a century, dodos have become a global reminder of the devastating potential of human activity. This episode, we review the brief history of human interactions with dodos, and we explore what recent research and fossil evidence has taught us about these birds and their closest relatives. In the news: Cretaceous crocs, extra-spiky dinosaurs, turtles of the sea, and cave fish evolution. Time markers:Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00News: 00:05:45Main discussion, Part 1: 00:33:10Main discussion, Part 2: 01:06:00Patron question: 01:56:50 Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Subscribe to Curiosity Box using our Affiliate Link: https://www.curiositybox.com/CommonDescentAnd get 25% off the first box with code descent25 Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/ Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the Common Descent Podcast.
0:19.0	Hello, Will.
0:20.4	Hello, David. Hello, David.
0:21.5	Hello, everybody, and welcome to episode 226 of Common Descent.
0:26.7	Where are this podcast where we talk about evolutionary history and earth history and paleontology and stuff like that?
0:33.1	This episode's topic is dodoos.
0:36.7	Dodoos.
0:37.6	Dodo dodo do.
0:39.5	Very famous group of birds, famous for all the wrong reasons for having been driven extinct by us terrible humans.
0:48.8	This episode, we will talk a bit about that legacy of Dodoes.
0:52.3	We'll talk about what we know about them and their relatives,
0:56.0	how we study them using fossils as well as historical reports and such, and we'll do some
1:03.2	philosophical waxing about the cultural impact and influence of Dodo's and what they mean for
1:10.0	our understanding of our place in the world ecosystem.
1:14.1	Yeah, I'm excited because dodoes are an animal. I know I have known for a long time, but not actually
1:21.3	known in any detail. Yeah, they are way cooler than they get credit for. They are very interesting birds.
1:29.7	This episode topic was requested, as all of our topics are.
1:32.9	This one by Jay, Lily, and Sam.
1:36.3	Thank you for that request.
1:38.2	If you, dear listener, have a request you'd like to make.
1:40.3	You can go to our website, to our topic request form.
1:42.9	Link in the episode description.
	...

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