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I wonder, have they asked the people of Tasmania if they want it back? It's Jurassic Park writ small.
De-extinction doesn't necessarily mean they will release animals back into the wild. Presumably a portion of animal behaviour is learned and passed down from the previous generation. Animals produced by de-extinction will be lacking these behaviours and perhaps best off in captivity.
I wonder, have they asked the people of Tasmania if they want it back? It's Jurassic Park writ small.
De-extinction doesn't necessarily mean they will release animals back into the wild. Presumably a portion of animal behaviour is learned and passed down from the previous generation. Animals produced by de-extinction will be lacking these behaviours and perhaps best off in captivity.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why?
My guess: if non-genetic heritable elements -- epigenetics (such as modifications to DNA) -- are necessary for proper development, then the DNA sequence alone will not be enough to develop thylacines. (There are caveats, notably that some modifications can be inferred). However, the scientists will also be experimenting with gestation and creating embryos from modified cells, so whether epigenetics specifically is a…
“We can now take the giant leaps..." says Professor Pask of the Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research (TIGRR) Lab. Which is a lot more accurate than the article headline, which says that they _have already_ taken a 'giant leap'. I expect such exaggeration and overstatement from mainstream news sources; I suppose I should not be surprised to see it coming from a university website.
At least they didn’t say quantum leap…
If they are successful, how do they navigate challenges related to inbreeding given what is likely to be a very small population of adult animals to work with?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except that in general the "rediscovery" isn't something dramatic -- it's just a systematist in a lab looking at an animal known by many and realizing that it is the same species as fossilized/preserved specimens thought to be extinct rather than a common related species. That's quite different from finding a thylacine, an animal that couldn't be confused with anything else.
This seems like a very inaccurate summary of the examples given in that article.
Chacoan Peccary -- There are many wild pigs.
Coelacanth -- Maybe the only real example of a "rediscovered species". But that's only because we know the oceans far less than we know the land.
Lord Howe Island Stick Insect -- You've probably seen a stick insect like this yourself even if it is genetically different.
La Palma Giant Lizard -- Same genus as Gallotia, a very common lizard on the Canary islands.
Takahe -- It's the same genus as the swamp hen. To an non-expert, they are the same.
Cuban Solenodon -- it looks like a common shrew to non-experts.
New Caledonian Crested Gecko -- It's a geko.
New Holland Mouse -- it's a mouse (not a marsupial, despite being native to Australia).
Giant Palouse Earthworm -- It's an earthworm, although larger than normal.
Large-Billed Reed-Warbler -- same genus as many other warblers, exactly the same to non-experts who don't measure the bill.
Laotian Rock Rat -- It actually is of a unique genus, so more interesting than most of these examples, but still, it's a rodent not that different to the average person than other rodents.
Wonder if they are successful if they just go extinct again. Will they know how to hunt and reproduce? Interesting test of nature vs nurture.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are periodic sightings of them. Although not with high enough confidence or documentation to say definitely, "They are still out there".
It's not plausible that such a large animal can have a self-sustaining population in the wild, and not be properly detected by the scientific community for 100 years.
This is only true if you just count recent history. It's the largest to survive the megafauna extinctions after humans arrived, and was out-competed by the non-marsupial dingo after that was introduced much later.
The "marsupial lion" thylacoleo carnifex (extinct ~35k years ago) was much bigger and more powerful, and "had the strongest bite of any known mammal, living or extinct". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacoleo_carnifex
Australia had tons of much larger herbivores too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_megafauna#Extinct_A...
If they are successful, how do they navigate challenges related to inbreeding given what is likely to be a very small population of adult animals to work with?