Scientific Discoveries on Mauritius
Posted by Brody on May 26, 2009Scientists from the Oxford University have been conducting studies regarding the extinction of a species on the African Island of Mauritius. DNA testing performed at the Museum of Natural History in the United Kingdom have revealed that the species of bird, the Dodo, have speculated that this species is a descendant of either the ostrich or the pigeon. Why the men and women of science are concerned with this, one species found on just one island in the world is that the extinction of the Dodo, has some wondering. Why is this so important? The scientists state that the fact that a species that was so adapted to its environment, was obliterated, is important. The examination of how humans evolve, and how the the plant life and wild life that surrounds us evolves can teach us many lessons on the way that evolution works. This is an example most extreme, in regards of the impact that humans have on the environment. And when something is extreme, it proves those lessons that are very well learned.
Long before there were humans on the island, before the tourism and the five star hotels, Mauritius was innocent, isolated. Scientists have not yet discovered when and how the birds got to the island, but they believe them to have come from Southeastern Asia. They also do not know when the birds lost the ability to fly, but speculate that with the absence of predators, they evolved into birds that needed not fly. Their Asian ancestry was separated close to forty three million years ago. In 1958, sailors from the Netherlands began using the island as a stop between their travels. And in eighty years the Dodo bird was extinct. Many animals not native to the island were introduced during this time, and these animals became predators of the birds, as well as the sailors themselves did as the Dodos were often hunted for food. Because of the previous isolation, the birds had evolved into a species that need not fight. These aspects combined provide insight into the understanding of the history of evolution in general.
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