An extinct flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius and was hunted to extinction by humans in the 1600s.
From Portuguese 'doudo,' meaning 'fool' or 'silly,' which Portuguese sailors called this bird because it had no fear of humans and was easy to catch. The word entered English in the early 1600s.
The dodo is the most famous extinction in history—it went from completely unknown to completely gone in about 100 years, and it symbolizes how humans can erase an entire species, making it the mascot of extinction prevention.
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