De-extinction

[Foozil]

I just don't see how the fact that we can't look after what we have now (which isn't entirely true) is a good reason for not bringing back what we have already killed.

 

[Stompsy]

I saw a piece the other week about the thylacine project. They said it was going to cost billions. Billions better spent elsewhere, IMO.

I would absolutely love to see the thylacine recreated and placed back into its natural habitat, especially considering we completely wiped it out in a very short amount of time. And we did it out of greed. But you are completely right in saying it’s money that could be used elsewhere and have a much bigger impact. Put those funds into fixing our planet.

 

[Scutellatus]

Kind of off topic. Why does the above poll say it closes on 2/1/2028? Was that a typo or does it have some relevance to you @Imported_tuatara?

 

[Flaviemys purvisi]

Im probably way off, but when you clone an animal, doesn’t it begin its life with any imperfections from the DNA it was created from? And also, doesn’t it start it’s life from the age of said DNA? (Or the age of the animal it was extracted from)

I don’t see how this would be beneficial in any way. And if they did recreate enough of a species, how far would the genetics stretch for any beneficial breeding program anyway?

I think we should start focusing a lot more of our energies on fixing what we have broken, rather than bringing more life into a planet we are literally destroying.

Well, and I'm just spitballing here... couldn't they be created much the same as super mice were created? Then the limited gene pool wouldn't matter so much??

 

[vampstorso]

Weren't they hoping the Tassie tiger could combat cats and foxes? That could be beneficial...
But again, I'm sure there are consequences we can't even fathom yet.

Also, wouldn't the animals end up like cheetahs? All inbred and full of defects from the very limited population.
Perhaps they've overcome that now, but previously cheetahs had all deformed front limbs etc from inbreeding when their population declined so terribly.


It does seem a bit weird to spend money bringing animals back rather than on current conservation as others have said...but I guess I'm the cases of symbiotic relationships mentioned, it can make sense too.


Also interesting people think reptiles are from dinosaurs when they're not. Only birds are, in the true sense of the word.
I make this statement about the general public, not this forum. I know many on here are highly interested in such things and realise this.

 

[Scutellatus]

Weren't they hoping the Tassie tiger could combat cats and foxes? That could be beneficial...
But again, I'm sure there are consequences we can't even fathom yet.

Also, wouldn't the animals end up like cheetahs? All inbred and full of defects from the very limited population.
Perhaps they've overcome that now, but previously cheetahs had all deformed front limbs etc from inbreeding when their population declined so terribly.


It does seem a bit weird to spend money bringing animals back rather than on current conservation as others have said...but I guess I'm the cases of symbiotic relationships mentioned, it can make sense too.


Also interesting people think reptiles are from dinosaurs when they're not. Only birds are, in the true sense of the word.
I make this statement about the general public, not this forum. I know many on here are highly interested in such things and realise this.

Where is the information about reptiles not being related to dinosaurs from? As far as I know they are from dinosaurs and this was stated by Steve Wilson at a talk he did recently.

 

[Imported_tuatara]

they are from? LMAO, not to be rude, but...No. there was lizards during, and before the dinosaurs. did you know monitors came from mosasaurs, and snakes came from either early monitors or late mosasaurs? and mosasaurs are marine reptiles, that lived with the dinosaurs. Birds evolved from dinosaurs, mostly small raptors, as if you see what accurate raptors look like they look very similar, both smallish, have feathers, etc.
[doublepost=1514938447,1514938373][/doublepost]related to them? that's a different story, but hey, we're also quite closely related to bone fish.

 

[Scutellatus]

they are from? LMAO, not to be rude, but...No. there was lizards during, and before the dinosaurs. did you know monitors came from mosasaurs, and snakes came from either early monitors or late mosasaurs? and mosasaurs are marine reptiles, that lived with the dinosaurs. Birds evolved from dinosaurs, mostly small raptors, as if you see what accurate raptors look like they look very similar, both smallish, have feathers, etc.
[doublepost=1514938447,1514938373][/doublepost]related to them? that's a different story, but hey, we're also quite closely related to bone fish.

Monitors came from Megalania not Mosasaurs.

 

[Imported_tuatara]

meglania, or VARANUS priscus, is a monitor.
[doublepost=1514939331,1514939198][/doublepost]in which really megalania priscus/varanus priscus is the correct term, not megalania, but megalania is widely accepted because of how old of a term it is.

 

[Scutellatus]

meglania, or VARANUS priscus, is a monitor.
[doublepost=1514939331,1514939198][/doublepost]in which really megalania priscus/varanus priscus is the correct term, not megalania, but megalania is widely accepted because of how old of a term it is.

I was referring to modern day monitors. The only prehistoric monitor I know of is Megalania.
Megalania, Komodo and Lace monitors all share the same structure to their vertebrae.

 

[Imported_tuatara]

i could list over five, but monitors in general came from mosasaurs. awesome vertebrae replica by the way, i should start getting a few honestly.

 

[Scutellatus]

i could list over five, but monitors in general came from mosasaurs. awesome vertebrae replica by the way, i should start getting a few honestly.

They arent replicas. They are the real deal. These were shown around at the talk by Steve Wilson.

 

[Imported_tuatara]

i was gonna ask about that, but the label made me think replica. I don't think i'd trust others to hold such things. awesome looking nonetheless.

 

[Scutellatus]

Unrelated but thought I would add it anyway.
The Ninjemys Oweni (Owen's Ninja Turtle). This is a foam replica of its skull.

 

[Imported_tuatara]

i think i've seen drawings of it, but to see a replica of it's skull is mindblowing, makes me realise how small i think some things are when in comparison are huge, numbers don't help give me a vision of something so huge honestly. @Aussiepride83 Think you'd be up to keeping one of those?

 

[sp.michael]

The critical point of a population, in terms of sufficient genetic diversity is 10 unrelated individuals. As such it wouldnt be hard to produce ten unrelated embryos, with know variances in certain sections of the DNA. As for the money better spent else where, that's true, but that money might be a donation which would only come about from this experiment, and otherwise would not have been given to science. It was tried a few years ago with the bucardo goat, but wasn't very successful, however technology improves. Also, it'd be unlikely for them to be re-released, most would just be zoo only animals.

 

[Nerdhero]

We just shouldn’t play god.

I think there are some very good arguments on here both for and against this cloning topic.

This playing god thing got me thinking though. Don't we already do that? Look at snakes for example. We selectively line breed them for whatever trait is desired. The course of natural selection no longer what will help your survive best but what we find most appealing. We take this way behond what is healthy for the animal, look at some so called *pure* dog breeds like bulldogs who are so deformed they can't breathe properly.

Also aren't we just another animal? When a lion kills for food its nature. If i kill for food (not for sport) some look down upon it. Always thought it strange we hold ourselves above everything else

 

[Scutellatus]

The things is, sooner or later someone will come along who decides that they want to make money from the cloning and making of an exhibit based business. There are many more important recent extinctions that should be considered before trying to bring back prehistoric creatures.

 

[Imported_tuatara]

if you've ever owned a dog, you're playing god. if you've ever eaten a banana, strawberry, etc, you're playing god. all have been linebred, with dogs coming from wolves.
[doublepost=1514947837,1514947786][/doublepost]using that as a defense is dumb if you've basically eaten almost any fruit or kept any morphed animal, or a dog, cat, etc.
[doublepost=1514947883][/doublepost]as an argument, not a defense*

 

[vampstorso]

Haven't read all responses, just left a funeral,

So just quickly,
The thing is people look at anything old and scaley and say it's a "dinosaur" when in reality, it may not be.
I believe there was a talk by the Field Museum about common misconceptions about "dinosaurs",