Your thoughts on reviving extinct animals

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: Crono
I don't get how humans could interfere with natural selection in any way. Aren't we subject to it ourselves no matter what we do?

That said, I think extinct animals should stay that way. Reintroducing them could be potentially bad for us, though it would be very cool to see animals like the dodo or eventually, maybe, dinosaurs.

Well, sure we are a part of it, much like the Black Plague. I believe we are loosing species at a higher rate than during the passing of the dinosaurs. We simply hunted them to extinction or removed their habitat. In the case of the latter, it's useless to try to reintroduce them, but with passenger pigeons and the like, they are relatively recently removed by us. No harm in bringing them back.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider

Originally posted by: Crono
I don't get how humans could interfere with natural selection in any way. Aren't we subject to it ourselves no matter what we do?

That said, I think extinct animals should stay that way. Reintroducing them could be potentially bad for us, though it would be very cool to see animals like the dodo or eventually, maybe, dinosaurs.

Well, sure we are a part of it, much like the Black Plague. I believe we are loosing species at a higher rate than during the passing of the dinosaurs. We simply hunted them to extinction or removed their habitat. In the case of the latter, it's useless to try to reintroduce them, but with passenger pigeons and the like, they are relatively recently removed by us. No harm in bringing them back.

Yeah, humans are basically causing the largest mass extinction since the dinosaurs were wiped out.

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: Dirigible

Originally posted by: DrawninwarD

Originally posted by: ahenkel
I'd bring a Dodo back so I could taste it. Probably delicious.

I would actually also like to eat a delicious dodo.

Now there's some solid thinking. I say we bring back the tasty animals. We can leave the yucky animals extinct.

But how do we know which ones are tasty?

(except for the dodo, of course. the historical info is pretty solid in terms of its tastiness)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo

The first known descriptions of the bird were made by the Dutch. They called the Mauritius bird the walghvogel ("wallow bird" or "loathsome bird") in reference to its taste. Although many later writings say that the meat tasted bad, the early journals only say that the meat was tough but good, though not as good as the abundantly available pigeons.

...

Although there are scattered reports of mass killings of dodos for provisioning of ships, archaeological investigations have hitherto found scant evidence of human predation on these birds.

I'll stick to yard-bird.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Gibsons

Originally posted by: arkcom

Originally posted by: puffff

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: txrandom
Nope, extinction is part of nature.

well sorta, we can make most anything we want go extinct given enough motivation. so we might as well bring things back as well, thats our power. we are nature.

Originally posted by: Baked
No. If they die for whatever reason, let them stay dead. If they can't cope with the change in environment or threats, then that's too bad. Most of them died due to changes in nature well before humans came into the picture. Playing God will only lead to bad things.

well we do play god all the time. things like passenger pigeons and dodos were so tasty we ate them to death.

agreed. if we gain the ability to revive them, to do so would be natural.

But what would be the point?

Increased diversity in the genetic pool.

Extended/broadened hunting seasons.

Tasty meat.

triceratops steak ftw!

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: ahenkel
I'd bring a Dodo back so I could taste it. Probably delicious.

This is what I was going to post.

 

[Locut0s]

On an individual level case by case basis it would be a wonderful tool for learning earths zoological history. And besides who doesn't want to see a live (insert your favourite extinct animal here). But on the level of a whole species it would be a horrible idea for any but the most recently extinct species. Even if the biome of the host species still exists, something doubtful for species long extinct, they have since evolved in their absence and adding them back to the equation would be a shock that might cause many more additional extinctions.

 

[zerocool84]

If you're religious none of these ever existed cus whatever god creates is awesome and he would never create something that needed to become extinct.

 

[dawp]

I give you the Nanoraptor

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: txrandom
Nope, extinction is part of nature.

So if humanity was going to go extinct, and the only way to save it was to clone more humans, you would say no?

That is a dissimilar situation...

What you should be asking is if humans were extinct and the only way to bring them back was to clone them, would you say no?

To which the answer would be silence...