Over the millennia, animals have gone extinct on Earth for many different reasons. Sometimes it’s because of a dramatic shift in the climate. Other times it was because of human intervention.
Advances in science, specifically biotechnology, could enable scientists to bring some of these animals ‘back’ from extinction, and there are a few already on the list.
A cover story for this month’s 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 Dodo
Ancient Armadillos the size of small cars, ferocious predators, 12 foot tall birds … a lot of these resurrection contenders come with a notable intimidation factor. They’re the sort of animals you’d be terrified to hear had escaped their enclosures. The Dodo, on the other hand, is kind of an ideal choice. Not only is this flightless bird non-threatening, but it famously had almost no fear of humans. And though this might come as a surprise, it’s not hard to source the necessary genetic materials for dodos. The genome has already been sequenced and it’s got a close relative in the Nicobar pigeon to help with the cloning process. If there’s one creature you should bet on making a coming back, it’s the dodo bird.
Thylacine [aka the Tasmanian Tiger]
Woolly Mammoths
This really feels like the holy grail of potential resurrections. The idea of being able to see a woolly mammoth on safari in a wildlife preserve is like something right out of a sci-fi novel. Most current efforts focus on creating elephant-mammoth hybrids; but, as with many of the entries on our list, this raises considerable ethical dilemmas, due to questionable prospects for survival. Nonetheless, the necessary material is there. In 2013, a nearly complete 40,000 year old mammoth, now named “Buttercup”, was found frozen in the New Siberia Islands. This specimen was even able to offer up blood samples, which scientists are confident can be used to source living cells. As if that’s not exciting enough, there’s similar potential for the woolly rhinoceros.
Steller’s Sea Cow
Just look at these adorable creatures. Don’t you think they deserve a second chance? Closely related to manatees and dugongs, these peaceful creatures, which could measure up to 30 feet in length, were sadly hunted to the point of extinction. There have been alleged sightings as recently as the 1960s, but most people agree with the declaration of extinction that was made in 1768 — just 27 years after Europeans took notice of them. With aquatic animals, the likelihood of finding preserved specimens is unfortunately next to zero. But hope isn’t altogether lost! Given the close genetic similarities between dugongs and Steller’s sea cow, researchers believe they might be able to resurrect the latter by reversing engineering the genetics of the former.
In the video below, you can see De.ad Animals Scientists Are Close to Reviving That You Definitely Don’t Know
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