The Lazarus list - January 08, 2009
Following last year’s woolly mammoth genome in Nature and the raft of coverage about the potential for Jurassic Park-style resurrections, the British press is getting in a tizzy over a list of 10 extinct animals we could see again.
The list – which includes Neanderthals and the dodo – has been produced by New Scientist, which says:
Assuming that we will develop the necessary technology, we have selected 10 extinct creatures that might one day be resurrected. Our choice is based not just on feasibility, but also on each animal's "megafaunal charisma" - just how exciting the prospect of resurrecting these animals is.
Even those quoted in the article are not entirely convinced by the choices. “I find the idea of resurrecting the Neanderthal so ridiculous that any speculation on surrogate mothers is superfluous,” says Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
Sadly the magazine has not attempted to factor in another key consideration, namely how tasty these things might be to eat.
Full list and coverage below the fold.
Full list
1. Neanderthal man
2. Sabre-toothed tiger
3. Short-faced bear
4. Tasmanian tiger
5. Glyptodon
6. Dodo
7. Woolly rhinoceros
8. Giant ground sloth
9. Irish elk
10. Moa
Coverage
Could long-gone beasts rise from the dead? – Scotsman
Extinct animals could be brought back to life thanks to advances in DNA technology – Daily Telegraph
The beasts we could raise from the dead: Return of the mammoth is 'only a matter of time' – Daily Mail
Extinct beasts 'may be resurrected' – PA (which says the list is of 50 animals)
Image: the dodo: coming soon to a dinner plate near you? / via Wikimedia
Comments
They'd probably all taste like chicken (or pigeon in the case of dodos) but it would still be rather wonderful to have them back. And we could always patch up the gaps in their genomes with frog DNA, just like they did in Jurassic Park...and then they wouldn't be able to see you if you didn't move, which would make them easier to catch!
Posted by: Tommy Broughton | January 8, 2009 01:09 PM
Well seems like New Scientist and the British press are playing catch up to science predicted by Michael Crichton.
I disagree with the "megafaunal charisma" choices though. My list would have:
1. Neanderthal man
2. Sabre-toothed tiger
3. The Woolly Mammoth
4. The Mastadon
5. Short-faced bear
6. The Moa
7. Woolly rhinoceros
8. Dodo
9. Irish elk
10. Giant ground sloth
I was delighted to read in the BBC that December 08 has been the coldest December in 30 years. I do hope that the advocates of Global Warming among the staff of New Scientist and Nature have not caught pneumonia.
Maybe in a few years time Global Warming could also be a candidate for the Lazarus List? Who knows, time will tell.
Posted by: Richard | January 8, 2009 06:25 PM
Those are already gone. Who will will save the Giant Flying Vampire Toad, now only found nesting at one hole of the Valhalla Golf Club in Florida? (OMNI, June 1980, Norman Spinrad)
Posted by: Uncle Al | January 8, 2009 07:13 PM