The flightless dodo was first discovered on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius in the late 16th Century. Within a few decades they were extinct. Before the arrival of man, the dodo is thought to have evolved to such a large size because it had no natural predators and plentiful food.

沒有飛行能力的渡渡鳥16世紀末在印度洋島國毛里求斯被發(fā)現。不過，在被發(fā)現短短幾十年后，這種鳥就徹底滅絕了。據說在人類到達這個島國之前，渡渡鳥體形龐大，因為島上有大量豐富的食物供它們享用，而且沒有天敵與它們搏斗。