Scientists Want to Bring Some Animals Back from Extinction

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On Friday at a National Geographic-sponsored TEDx conference, scientists met in Washington, D.C. to discuss which animals we should bring back from extinction. They also discussed the how, why, and ethics of doing so. They called it “de-extinction.”

There are a few guidelines for which ancient species are considered, and sadly, dinosaurs are so long dead they aren’t 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 to the wild — are the habitats in which they live available and do we know why they went extinct in the first place?

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 there’s also the cost of housing the animals once they are created, and re-introducing them into the wild 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 just might be worth it.

Here are 10 animals they are hoping to one day resurrect.

1. The mythical Aurochs is not a myth at all, actually. It is the ancestor of domestic cattle and lived throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa. They died off in 1627.

773fffa9 4538 4494 9da2 1e7e8d40bab3 aurochsWikimedia/DFoidl

2. The Dodo is known for being really dumb — but really it was just fearless because it evolved without any natural predators. Humans who arrived on its home island, Mauritius, took advantage of this and killed them all for food.

bd7f7f8e 34b3 47d5 bd93 5c498dec66dc dodoPublic domain


3. The Labrador Duck was always rare but disappeared between 1850 and 1870. Supposedly it didn’t taste good, so it wasn’t hunted extensively for food, so its extinction isn’t fully explained.

ded5b1d5 e650 46f0 bb24 c1a7aba4955b Labrador DuckPublic domain

4.The Ivory-billed Woodpecker lived in “virgin forests” of the southeastern United states, but there hasn’t been a confirmed sighting of the bird since the 1940s. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology even offered a $50,000 reward for someone who could lead researchers to a living specimen.

4ec33bb4 2ca0 431e bc4a 22adbcb5a4cf woodpeckerOriginal photo by Arthur A. Allen, coloured version by Jerry A. Payne

5. Frozen carcasses of the Woolly Mammoth allow scientists access to well-preserved DNA from these prehistoric giant animals, related to elephants. The last isolated population of woolly mammoths lived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until 4,000 years ago.

bde2d930 0186 48d3 8ac3 49f03b76fee3 Woolly MammothWikipedia user Dantheman9758

6. The Mastodon is an extinct species related to elephants that lived in North and Central America. They went extinct 12,000 years ago.

126005cf bf06 4772 99e1 425055d16adc mastodonWikipedia user Dantheman9758

7. This extinct species of plains Zebra, the Quagga, once lived in South Africa. The last wild one was shot in 1870 and the last in captivity died in 1883.

40352b4b f140 4472 b8f9 e13d41eb3c11 quaggaPublic domain

8. The iconic Saber-toothed cat, Smilodon, is also on the list. It died out about 10,000 years ago due to climate changes at the end of the last Ice Age.

saber-toothedcatCharles R. Knight

9. The Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, is the only marsupial to make the list. It lived in Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea until the 1960s.

847f0776 689b 41e1 86b7 65d11c4cc5e6 Tasmanian TigerPublic domain

10. The Caribbean monk seal was hunted to extinction for use as oil, and they were out-competed for fish (their main food source) by humans. The last individual was seen in 1952.

5f96a1c9 01d6 4bd4 b4a4 229741f30fbe Caribbean monk sealPublic domain

Click here for the full list. 

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2 responses to “Scientists Want to Bring Some Animals Back from Extinction”

  1. They could bring back human species such as neanderthal

  2. Reta Buonamici Avatar
    Reta Buonamici

    If you sell product, consider including your card with the product when it is delivered to your customer. Same goes for services. For example, if you are an auto mechanic, consider slipping your business card in your customers car visor, or create a sticker business card that will adhere to a discrete area of the customers car windsheild. If you provide regular on-site services, consider a business card magnet to be prominently placed on a refrigerator, or filing cabinet. Keep in mind, you dont need to actually sell product, or deliver service to ensure your business card gets and stays in the hands of others. Include your business card with every piece of correspondence: quotes, RFPs, letters, even photocopy your business card and include it in fax transmissions. When mailing out information, include it in the mailing by stapling your card (if possible) to the bottom or top corner of your letterhead…

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