The dodo is often viewed as the classic example of extinction and obsolescence. However, the truth ... More is that countless species have met similar fates. Here’s one bird whose epoch ended much in the same way as the dodo bird, but on the opposite side of the planet. Heritage Images via Getty Images The dodo probably receives more attention than it deserves. Sure, the flightless bird — native to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean — was a beautiful species whose lineage ended far too soon (likely sometime in the late 1600s). And, sure, its unique story serves as a cautionary tale about the risks posed by overhunting and invasive species on range-restricted animals (like those inhabiting a small-ish island). But the glaring, and unfortunate, issue with the story of the dodo is that there’s nothing that uncommon about it — countless animals have met similar fates. In fact, according to scientific estimates, approximately 12% of all avian species have gone extinct since the Late Pleistocene Era, approximately 10,000 to 100,000 years ago. Here’s the story of the great auk, another flightless bird, found in the North Atlantic, that went extinct in much the same way as the Dodo. The Great Auk Went From Thriving To Extinct In 200 Years Built for life at sea, the great auk was a powerful swimmer and diver, using its short wings to ... More navigate underwater. Its upright stance, dense black-and-white plumage and large, hooked beak made it a striking figure on rocky coastal islands. The great auk was a seabird that lived on rocky islands from New England and Canada to Europe. For centuries, its population was healthy. They were robust creatures, capable swimmers and divers, well adapted to life at sea, but their inability to fly made them vulnerable. Much like the dodo, the great auk’s inability to escape threats from predators or humans meant its decline came swiftly once those threats emerged. The dodo’s extinction in the late 1600s, shortly after the arrival of European colonists on Mauritius, was driven by a combination of habitat destruction, hunting and the introduction of non-native animals. Similarly, the great auk’s population began to decrease in the 16th century with the arrival of European explorers and settlers in the North Atlantic. The primary threat came from overhunting; the great auk’s eggs, feathers and meat were highly valued. Like the dodo, which suffered from the introduction of rats, pigs and monkeys, the great auk also faced competition from invasive species, including dogs and foxes, which preyed on its eggs and young. MORE FOR YOU Microsoft’s Free Upgrade Offer For 500 Million Windows Users ‘Worse Than 1971’—U.S. Dollar Price ‘Collapse’ Predicted To Ignite $22 Trillion Bitcoin Challenge To Gold Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers For Saturday, April 12th As the Great Auk’s natural predators increased, the bird’s nesting sites, often on isolated islands, became more accessible to human hunters. With few natural defenses, the bird’s eggs were taken in large numbers, and adults were captured for their feathers and meat. The demand for the bird’s down for use in bedding and clothing increased as European markets expanded, exacerbating its decline. Unlike the dodo, which was relatively confined to one small island, the great auk’s range stretched across a vast expanse, meaning that its populations were distributed, but no less vulnerable to exploitation. The eventual extinction of the great auk came as a result of cumulative human impact. By the mid-19th century, the last known colony of great auks had been wiped out due to relentless hunting, with the last recorded individuals being killed in 1844 off the coast of Iceland. This was just over 200 years after the first significant encounters between Europeans and the great auk, much like the dodo, which had become extinct a mere 100 years after its first interaction with humans. The timing of both extinctions highlights how rapidly human activity can change the course of a species’ existence once introduced to an environment. Despite their similarities, the fates of the great auk and the dodo also reveal stark contrasts. The dodo’s extinction was, to some extent, the result of a complete ecological overhaul caused by the introduction of non-native species by humans. The great auk, however, faced a more direct form of exploitation. Where the dodo had been relatively defenseless against new predators, the great auk’s habitat was systematically altered and its numbers plummeted as hunting took precedence. While the dodo may have vanished due, in part, to indirect factors, the great auk’s extinction was driven by the destructive patterns of resource extraction that humans imposed on its environment. In the end, both species serve as reminders of the fragile balance between humans and nature. Their extinctions underscore the dangers of overexploitation, habitat destruction and the introduction of non-native species to ecosystems that had previously been relatively isolated. While both the dodo and the great auk represent different chapters in the story of human-caused extinctions, they share an enduring legacy: the irreversible loss of species that were unable to adapt to the rapid changes brought on by human intervention. Does thinking about the extinction of a species instantly change your mood? 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