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Scientists want to bring back 22 extinct animal species

deactivated-5b1e62582e305 · 2013-03-25 11:04:01

LAST WEEKEND AT a TEDx conference in Washington DC sponsored by National Geographic, scientists met to discuss which animals should be brought back from extinction. They also discussed the how, why and ethics of doing so.They called it de-extinction.A cover story for this months National Geographic explains how de-extinction rests on a relatively simple premise: it involves taking old DNA samples, reassembling them into a full genome which is then injected into embryonic cells which have had their own DNA taken out, and then finding a suitable living surrogate to give birth.The Washington Post reports that ten years ago, a team of scientists from France and Spain almost brought back an extinct wild goat but it only lived for 10 minutes. It raises a host of issues, including how scientists can get a good enough sample of DNA from the extinct animal and whether or not they should.There are a few guidelines for which ancient species are considered, and sadly, dinosaurs are so long dead they arent in the picture. Their DNA has long ago degraded, so researchers are fairly sure that Jurassic Park will never happen.They chose the animals using the following criteria: Are the species desirable do they hold an important ecological function or are they beloved by humans? Are the species practical choices do we have access to tissue that could give us good quality DNA samples or germ cells to reproduce the species? And are they able to be reintroduced into the world are the habitats in which they live available and do we know why they went extinct in the first place?Even with the criteria, this still leaves plenty of other animals on the table. The list of candidates is actually pretty long, considering.The cost of de-extinction varies by species but projects could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more. Then theres also the cost of housing the animals once they are created, and re-introducing them into the world and protecting them from poachers once they are there.But if you were the zoo that had that one woolly mammoth or saber-toothed cat, these costs might just be worth it.Here are 22 of the 24 animals they are hoping to one day resurrect.Carolina ParakeetQuaggaMohoDodoThylacineCuban MacawSmilidonPyrenean ibexHuiaPassenger pigeonElephant birdAurochsCaribbean monk sealMoaMastodonWoolly mammothGreat AukImperial WoodpeckerIvory-billed woodpeckerHeath HenLabrador duckDusky seaside sparrowhttp://www.thejournal.ie/science-conference-de-extinction-840062-Mar2013/Cool stuff. I hope this works out because I'd definitely pay a high price to visit a zoo with these kinds of animals.

TacticalDesire

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#101 TacticalDesire

Member since 2010 • 10713 Posts

I heard about this. Personally, I think it's awesome. Creatures like Mammoths, Mastodons etc are pure awesome. The Moa is also pretty insane as is the Elephant bird.

11 years ago

MrGeezer

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#102 MrGeezer

Member since 2002 • 59765 Posts

[QUOTE="Nibroc420"] If an ecosystem had recently lost a large cat, other animals would start to thrive, different animals would have it easier/worse. The ecosystem would slowly change, until one day some scientists unleash several hundred of a different species of large cat into that ecosystem.

Exactly. If a large cat species is wiped out, then the ecosystem just changes. Species adapt to the fact that that cat no longer exists. If you then wait hundreds or thousands of years and reintroduce that large cat, that f***s everything up just as much as its extinction did. It's not the same ecosystem as it once was. Everything has changed, and reintroducing that cat just f***s everything up.

11 years ago

tjricardo089

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#103 tjricardo089

Member since 2010 • 7429 Posts

Smilodon and Mammoths? I'm sold.

11 years ago

mrbojangles25

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#104 mrbojangles25

Member since 2005 • 60807 Posts

[QUOTE="Nibroc420"] If an ecosystem had recently lost a large cat, other animals would start to thrive, different animals would have it easier/worse. The ecosystem would slowly change, until one day some scientists unleash several hundred of a different species of large cat into that ecosystem.MrGeezer

Exactly. If a large cat species is wiped out, then the ecosystem just changes. Species adapt to the fact that that cat no longer exists. If you then wait hundreds or thousands of years and reintroduce that large cat, that f***s everything up just as much as its extinction did. It's not the same ecosystem as it once was. Everything has changed, and reintroducing that cat just f***s everything up.

I really don't think they plan on reintroducing these animals to the wild, it would be incredibly expensive and, as stated, not practical for various reasons.

11 years ago

Meinhard1

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#105 Meinhard1

Member since 2010 • 6790 Posts

*skims list for dinosaurs* *leaves thread*

11 years ago

The_Lipscomb

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#106 The_Lipscomb

Member since 2013 • 2603 Posts

[QUOTE="skims list for dinosaurs* *leaves thread*

lol

11 years ago

-TheSecondSign-

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#107 -TheSecondSign-

Member since 2007 • 9303 Posts

Thylacine are f*cking cool.

11 years ago

MrGeezer

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#108 MrGeezer

Member since 2002 • 59765 Posts

I really don't think they plan on reintroducing these animals to the wild, it would be incredibly expensive and, as stated, not practical for various reasons.
mrbojangles25

Oh, I know. I'm just backing up Nibroc's point that once an animal has been extinct for a sufficient period of time, repopulation is out of the question. Especially when some of these species on the list have been extinct for over 10,000 years.

11 years ago

Scientists want to bring back 22 extinct animal species

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