The true cause behind dodo bird extinction - Leon Claessens episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 9, 2026 · 7 MIN

The true cause behind dodo bird extinction - Leon Claessens

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Uncover the most common misperceptions about dodos, and find out the truth of how the flightless birds actually went extinct.--Dodos are commonly considered brainless, blundering birds that were poorly adapted and doomed to die off, making their human-mediated extinction effortless and inevitable. But that’s not the case. So, what were dodos actually like? And what really caused their downfall? Leon Claessens uncovers the truth about these misunderstood and maligned creatures.Lesson by Leon Claessens, directed by Denys Spolitak.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-real-reason-dodo-birds-went-extinct-leon-claessensDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-real-reason-dodo-birds-went-extinct-leon-claessens/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://vimeo.com/denysspolitak----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Karmi Nguyen, John C. Vesey and Yelena Baykova. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uncover the most common misperceptions about dodos, and find out the truth of how the flightless birds actually went extinct.--Dodos are commonly considered brainless, blundering birds that were poorly adapted and doomed to die off, making their human-mediated extinction effortless and inevitable. But that’s not the case. So, what were dodos actually like? And what really caused their downfall? Leon Claessens uncovers the truth about these misunderstood and maligned creatures.Lesson by Leon Claessens, directed by Denys Spolitak.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-real-reason-dodo-birds-went-extinct-leon-claessensDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-real-reason-dodo-birds-went-extinct-leon-claessens/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://vimeo.com/denysspolitak----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Karmi Nguyen, John C. Vesey and Yelena Baykova. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The true cause behind dodo bird extinction - Leon Claessens

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This episode was published on June 9, 2026.

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Uncover the most common misperceptions about dodos, and find out the truth of how the flightless birds actually went extinct.--Dodos are commonly considered brainless, blundering birds that were poorly adapted and doomed to die off, making their...

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