12 Extinct Animals That Can Be Brought Back With Science
- 6 years ago
Scientists have preserved DNA samples from each of these ancient creatures and want to bring them back from extinction it amazing!\r
\r
Subscribe for new videos weekly! \r
\r
7. The Stellers Sea Cow\r
This distant relative of the modern day manatee was first discovered back in 1741 just off the coast of the Bering Island near Russia. The stellers sea cow was known for being slow, big, and an unusually terrible swimmer for a creature that lived submerged in water. By the time this species was discovered, it had already had a poor population that had dwindled to so little that the species could only be found in the area it was discovered. They were finally considered extinct in 1768. Its been around 250 years since they were alive but their bones are still washing up on shores and even a Russian research group has mapped the animals DNA sequence.\r
\r
6. The Dodo\r
Quite possibly the worlds most famously known extinct animal is the dimwitted dodo bird that was driven to extinction only 80 years ago. Though, its not their fault. The dodo was a natural inhabitant of the Island of Mauritius where it lived peacefully with no fear of any apex predators, which would ultimately lead to its downfall. The bird evolved to not fear humans and was therefore easily killed by being clubbed to death. Their DNA was just retrieved from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in hopes to create a clone that would be able to be born from modern pigeons that are closely related.\r
\r
5. The Passenger Pigeon\r
The passenger pigeon was a species that was once incredibly plentiful across the Eastern and Central United States back in the 1800s. Sadly, because these birds were described as being quite tasty they were also easy to kill which contributed to the species being completely wiped out in the early 1900s. The last known passenger pigeon named Martha died back in 1914. Its Marthas DNA that is currently being used by the University of California to de-extinct the species. The potential is there as they have well-preserved samples of DNA and closely related species that can serve as potential surrogates.\r
\r
4. The Pyrenean Ibex\r
Bringing an extinct animal back to life seems like something out of a science fiction , however, its technically already been accomplished. The Pyrenean ibex was recently the first extinct animal to cross back into the realm of the living, well, for seven minutes at least. The cloned fetus was created by using the reanimated DNA from the last known living ibex and was successfully born after being inserted into the womb of a goat. Unfortunately, the ibex died 7 minutes later due to complications with its lungs. \r
\r
3. The Woolly Mammoth\r
The woolly mammoth is perhaps the best choice out of all these creatures to be brought back from the dead because it could potentially be successful. Mammoths havent roamed the earth for the last 200,000 years as they managed to die out during the last ice age, but the f that they died in a region that is still pretty much frozen to this day means scientists have been able to find the most well-preserved mammoth samples. Even though it is possible to clone a mammoth by using the normal cloning process, it does prove a challenge because the cell nuclei needed tends to die with the cell as it thaws. Researchers, though, have managed to revert the cells back into embryo stem cells which means all hope is not yet lost.\r
\r
2. The Woolly Rhinoceros\r
The woolly mammoth wasnt the only enormous creature with tons of fur to walk the frozen Pleistocene tundra. Its believed that the woolly rhino tread the earths arctic snow around 10,000 years ago. This animal was even depicted in caves near the France region. Just like the woolly mammoth, the wooly rhino possesses the same great potential to be resurrected from the afterlife. The frozen carcasses are some of the best-preserved samples of DNA thanks to the ice-cold temperatures of the arctic permafrost. \r
\r
1. The Thylacine\r
More commonly referred to as the Tasmanian tiger, this animal was officially proclaimed as extinct in 1986, even though 50 years had passed since the last time anyone saw one alive. Tasmania was once teeming with these creatures, so much so that back in the 1800s they were becoming a problem for local farmers and the government decided to pay people for every tiger they killed. It was hunted to the brink of extinction and the last known Tasmanian tiger died back in 1936. Thankfully in 1918, the Museum of Victoria saved several tigers in tubs of alcohol and the University of Melbourne has used the DNA to successfully piece the animals genome and inserted it into the embryo of a mouse.
\r
Subscribe for new videos weekly! \r
\r
7. The Stellers Sea Cow\r
This distant relative of the modern day manatee was first discovered back in 1741 just off the coast of the Bering Island near Russia. The stellers sea cow was known for being slow, big, and an unusually terrible swimmer for a creature that lived submerged in water. By the time this species was discovered, it had already had a poor population that had dwindled to so little that the species could only be found in the area it was discovered. They were finally considered extinct in 1768. Its been around 250 years since they were alive but their bones are still washing up on shores and even a Russian research group has mapped the animals DNA sequence.\r
\r
6. The Dodo\r
Quite possibly the worlds most famously known extinct animal is the dimwitted dodo bird that was driven to extinction only 80 years ago. Though, its not their fault. The dodo was a natural inhabitant of the Island of Mauritius where it lived peacefully with no fear of any apex predators, which would ultimately lead to its downfall. The bird evolved to not fear humans and was therefore easily killed by being clubbed to death. Their DNA was just retrieved from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in hopes to create a clone that would be able to be born from modern pigeons that are closely related.\r
\r
5. The Passenger Pigeon\r
The passenger pigeon was a species that was once incredibly plentiful across the Eastern and Central United States back in the 1800s. Sadly, because these birds were described as being quite tasty they were also easy to kill which contributed to the species being completely wiped out in the early 1900s. The last known passenger pigeon named Martha died back in 1914. Its Marthas DNA that is currently being used by the University of California to de-extinct the species. The potential is there as they have well-preserved samples of DNA and closely related species that can serve as potential surrogates.\r
\r
4. The Pyrenean Ibex\r
Bringing an extinct animal back to life seems like something out of a science fiction , however, its technically already been accomplished. The Pyrenean ibex was recently the first extinct animal to cross back into the realm of the living, well, for seven minutes at least. The cloned fetus was created by using the reanimated DNA from the last known living ibex and was successfully born after being inserted into the womb of a goat. Unfortunately, the ibex died 7 minutes later due to complications with its lungs. \r
\r
3. The Woolly Mammoth\r
The woolly mammoth is perhaps the best choice out of all these creatures to be brought back from the dead because it could potentially be successful. Mammoths havent roamed the earth for the last 200,000 years as they managed to die out during the last ice age, but the f that they died in a region that is still pretty much frozen to this day means scientists have been able to find the most well-preserved mammoth samples. Even though it is possible to clone a mammoth by using the normal cloning process, it does prove a challenge because the cell nuclei needed tends to die with the cell as it thaws. Researchers, though, have managed to revert the cells back into embryo stem cells which means all hope is not yet lost.\r
\r
2. The Woolly Rhinoceros\r
The woolly mammoth wasnt the only enormous creature with tons of fur to walk the frozen Pleistocene tundra. Its believed that the woolly rhino tread the earths arctic snow around 10,000 years ago. This animal was even depicted in caves near the France region. Just like the woolly mammoth, the wooly rhino possesses the same great potential to be resurrected from the afterlife. The frozen carcasses are some of the best-preserved samples of DNA thanks to the ice-cold temperatures of the arctic permafrost. \r
\r
1. The Thylacine\r
More commonly referred to as the Tasmanian tiger, this animal was officially proclaimed as extinct in 1986, even though 50 years had passed since the last time anyone saw one alive. Tasmania was once teeming with these creatures, so much so that back in the 1800s they were becoming a problem for local farmers and the government decided to pay people for every tiger they killed. It was hunted to the brink of extinction and the last known Tasmanian tiger died back in 1936. Thankfully in 1918, the Museum of Victoria saved several tigers in tubs of alcohol and the University of Melbourne has used the DNA to successfully piece the animals genome and inserted it into the embryo of a mouse.