h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nice entry! Just a thought on the task of cloning a new member of an extinct species- isn't it a lot of money to spend on an animal most of us will never miss? Also, they're extinct, why try and fly in the face of nature and undo what natural selection has done? What is the gain to be had from this?

Hardly 'natural selection'.
Thylacines (like so many other species) were put at risk by the destruction of their environment and the competition of introduced species, and were eventually hunted into extinction.

Having said that, I'm not sure that cloning and re-introducing the species is an answer even if it is possible. Since the destruction of their environment, it's highly unlikely they could survive in the wild (especially as the first ones would have to be hand-reared) and so would only ever live in zoos as an academic curiosity.

While I'm sure there are some in the scientific community would argue the benefits of the research itself I'd much rather see the money spent on protection of at-risk species who may still be saved!

Why recreate a Tassie Tiger which will never have the chance to be a viable species in it's own habitat when the Kakapo, Rhino, Yangtze Dolphin and Gibbon are all teetering on the edge??

SAVE THE GIBBONS!!!

I have to agree with you, silverygibbon, on both your points.
Habitat erosion is not a factor in Natural Selection, and although sad, the re-populating of extinct species is not really a viable option.
Efforts should be made to preserve the habitats, of those species which are in danger.

The

I have to agree with the replies regarding natural selection. Inroducing species that compete with natives and destroying habitats not to mention human hunting is about as far from natural selection as you can get. True humans are part of the ecosystem but the effects they introduce are far too fast for any adaptation to occur. A natural disaster may wipe out a part of the population but unless the organism is on the point of extinction or extremely specialised there should be organisms left to carry on.
As to trying to clone Thylacines. Nature vs nurture. They may have Thylacine genes but can we be sure that they will act like Thylacines? If and it's a big if, there are Thylacines still alive we have to preserve those animals. Maybe then we can think of cloning to increase genetic diversity.
Are Thylacines still hanging out in Tasmania? I hope they are but given H sap's record I'm not optimistic.
Yukon Wolf

I'd like to agree with everything just said. Additionally, I'd like to add that the chances of successfully cloning an animal are extraordinarily slim. "Dolly" the sheep was the product of years of research, tons trial and error, and at the end, a gigantic crossing of the fingers. Out of her cloning group of ten embryos alone she was the only one to survive (Am I getting my facts right here? Somebody please let me know if I'm not), and that's not counting all the botched tries that must have come before her, just to see if it could be done. Granted, science has advanced since then, as has technology, but it's still a mind-blowingly small chance to spend that much money and hope on for a creature that may not even survive in Tasmania today.

Coincidentally, I know it's already been said elsewhere, but fantastic job. Particularly the mention about convergent evolution - fascinating subject.


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"

humanity = virus, anyone?

OK I'll bite.
Let's hear it

You know, the bit in The Matrix where Agent Smith is interrogating Morpheus, that whole monologue just freaked me out with it's accuracy

Ah, well, I didn't see it.

It basically argues (Smith is part of the Matrix and therefore machine based) that all mammal life on Earth forms a natural bond with it's immediate environment and develops an equilibrium for a peaceful and continual coexistence (he said paraphrasing wildly) yet humans completely overthrow their environment using up and destroying all local natural resources so the only way they can continue to live is to reproduce wildly, spreading out, consuming more and more...

(this is the cool bit where he leans in and whispers)

There is another organism...

I see, and the other organism?

I haven't seen the matrix, but that bit seems pretty accurate

a virus

indeed

Oh yeah, I remember that part too. Even creepier when you realize there are some scientists in the real world (OUR real world, not the scorched earth of the Matrix ) that have put out the theory that humanity has reached Plague status as a species. Another species that has Plague status: locusts. Brrrr...


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"

That's not a happy thought.
But I can see the reasoning, Like locust we revage everywhere we go; strip-mining, deforestation, pollution, the list goes on, it's not enough to wipe out indiginous species, in the intrest of progress, pretty soon, we'll wipe ourselves out too.
Plague populations die out when the resources can no longer support them.....

True, they do die out then. But if the entire population is not killed off by its own appetite, it eventually comes back to ravage again - presumably at a time when the earth's resources have replenished themselves. Just witness the locust swarms in the American midwest; they happen, fairly regularly, about every ten years or so in Iowa (or so my wife tells me). Then they die out, and then ten years later they come back again. If rats and locusts can survive... We are an adaptable species, after all.

Which brings another question: SHOULD we come back? Does humanity deserve another shot, and can we live up to the promise and potential of these huge craniums we're lugging around on top of our necks? Or are we no better than rats? My hope and heart tells me the former is true, but according to the legend of Pandora's Box, hope itself is just another plague. And there's a lot more humans on the planet than there are locusts or rats.


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"

Now this is getting deep - personally I'd say no, but hey, that's just me

humanity should try and sort its problems out now, before its too late

It is too late, there are too many of us, we have invented politics