Ask Dr. Universe: Is the puffin descended from the dodo?

Dr-Universe-230PULLMAN, Wash. – The dodo bird isn’t with us anymore, but if you visit a city park you’ll likely see one of its very close relatives walking around. It might even be nibbling on a french fry. Dodos were a pigeon, said my friend Michael Webster.

“Puffins are a very different kind of bird compared to dodos,” he added.

My cat instincts can often make birds a tricky subject to study. Thankfully, Webster helped me out. He knows a lot about birds, as he is a professor of ornithology. He spends his time studying wrens in Australia and teaching at Cornell University and Washington State University.

Learn more in the complete Dr. Universe column here.

 

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