DEAD Animals Scientists Are Close to Reviving!

- This may surprise you, but the Earth is in the middle of a mass extinction right now and it's all thanks to human meddling. In fact, more than one in five species on the planet face extinction today, and that number is projected to rise to 50% by the end of the century unless we do something about it. But what if I told you that extinction is not as permanent as you think? Thanks to the wonders of science, we may even be able to go back in time by

reviving

some long-lost species. So, without further ado, let's take a look at some extinct

animals

that could walk the Earth once again! (upbeat music) The Woolly Mammoth.

It has huge fangs, a furry winter coat and weighs up to six tons? Woolly mammoths, duh! Of course, none of us have seen these impressive giants in our lifetime because they became extinct thousands of years ago. Although once thought to have disappeared during the last Ice Age, a recent discovery has revealed that the last isolated colony of around 500 to 1,000 woolly mammoths actually lived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean just 4,000 years ago. Unlike the elephants we know today, which populate habitats such as African savannahs and Asian jungles, woolly mammoths could be found in the tundra, which stretched across northern Asia, many parts of Europe, and northern America. from North.

Their smaller ears, shorter tails and extra thick coats protected them from frost and adapted them well to these cold local conditions. In fact, the woolly mammoth played such an integral role in maintaining this environment that it has also been nicknamed the mammoth steppe. Many

scientists

believe that woolly mammoths died when the climate became warmer and their food supply changed, although, unsurprisingly, it also seems that pesky humans and their habit of excessive hunting may have had something to do with it. But could we see the woolly mammoth again soon? The possibility is more likely than you think.

A handful of well-preserved woolly mammoth specimens have been found frozen in the Siberian permafrost over the years and could now hold the key to

reviving

this long-

dead

species. It may seem like something out of a science fiction movie, but

scientists

are hopeful that we may soon see

animals

we once considered extinct return through something they like to call de-extinction. Before you continue, you can ensure that Be Amazed never goes extinct by following these simple steps. Just hit the Like and Subscribe buttons and ring the little bell icon to make sure you stay up to date! After all, the world would be a bleaker place without the kind of weird, wonderful, and surprising content that will keep you entertained for hours, right?

Now, let's get back in! The possibility of resurrecting species through extinction has become increasingly likely thanks to advances in the fields of selective breeding, genetics, and reproductive cloning technologies. In the latter part of the 20th century, tools emerged that allowed scientists to isolate and analyze DNA from bones, hair and other tissues of

dead

animals such as frozen mammoths. At the forefront of these advances is a useful tool for genetic modification known as CRISPR-cas9, which can be used to isolate specific traits from mammoth DNA that could then be integrated into the DNA of another animal, as a super scientific tool of cut and paste!

This could be particularly useful in recovering the woolly mammoth because its

close

st relative is still alive, the Asian elephant. Once the relative genes have been swapped from the extinct species to the living one, the hybrid genome would be implanted into a surrogate or could even be grown ex vitro, outside the mother, using an artificial womb. This approach does not produce genetically identical copies of extinct animals, but rather modern versions of an animal designed to look and behave like its extinct relative. Therefore, the end result would be a species of mammoth, well adapted to the conditions of the far north, with shorter ears and a thick, shaggy coat, rather than a true woolly mammoth.

But why should we bring back the woolly mammoth in the first place? Well, it might actually have some major environmental benefits. According to George Church, the researcher who leads Harvard's woolly mammoth recovery team, bringing back the giants could help convert the Arctic tundra to grasslands that existed during the last Ice Age. He see, the mammoths and other large herbivores that trampled ancient Arctic ecosystems helped maintain grasslands by felling trees and spreading grass seeds in their dung. But when these animals disappeared, the ecosystem transitioned to the mossy tundra and taiga we see today, with permafrost that is beginning to melt, gradually releasing harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Russian geophysicist Sergey Zimov has already carried out extensive research showing that tundra can be converted back to grassland with the reintroduction of grazing animals. With a gigantic herd participating in something like this, the results could be surprising. But how

close

are we to recovering the woolly mammoth? In 2017, Church said we could see live woolly mammoths within a couple of years, while Dr Tom Ellis, who leads research in synthetic biology and genome engineering at Imperial College London, believes it will take at least 10 years. . But things move forward every year. In 2019, top scientists in Japan achieved a breakthrough when cells recovered from a preserved 28,000-year-old mammoth showed signs of life.

So at this point, it certainly seems like a question: when will we not see these giants walk among us again! Thylacine. All this talk about de-extinction may be exciting, but we're still many steps away from recreating Jurassic Park. Because these novel resurgence techniques rely primarily on the analysis of DNA that can be recovered from well-preserved specimens, deextinction has not yet extended to dinosaurs, in part due to the extreme old age of the specimens and severe DNA degradation. . over time. For that reason, we are more likely to see species that became extinct much more recently revived, such as the thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger.

It was a large, sand-colored creature with distinctive dark stripes along its back, with a wolf's head and a long, stiff tail. The thylacine was native to the Australian continent, Tasmania and New Guinea. It is believed to have become extinct on mainland Australia about 3,000 years ago, but survived on the southern island of Tasmania until the 20th century. Because the thylacine was a key predator, it was accused of killing sheep and placed on government-sponsored bounties, which ultimately helped eradicate the species. The last known thylacine in existence was a male specimen that was taken to the Hobart Zoo in Australia, where it died on September 7, 1939.

As if practically killing the entire species wasn't enough, this thylacine is also said to have died from neglect. . Having been excluded from his sheltered bedroom, he was exposed to a rare occurrence of extreme Tasmanian weather, extreme heat during the day and freezing temperatures at night. And with that, the thylacine was eliminated forever. But all that could be about to change! About 750 thylacine specimens are preserved in museums, and most are skins or bones with little viable DNA. But 13 pups were removed from their mothers' pouches and preserved in ethanol, and in 2017 it was announced that one of these pups, preserved at the Melbourne Museum, had provided enough high-quality genetic material for researchers to sequence the entire genome. of the animal.

For those who are not fluent in science, a genome is basically the complete set of genetic instructions for an organism. Because each genome contains all the information needed to build that organism and allow it to grow and develop, successfully sequencing one basically means that scientists now have the genetic blueprint to resurrect an extinct animal. The thylacine genome has revealed details about the marsupial's evolution and its decline toward extinction. This is a crucial step in possible plans to clone the creature. Cloning may seem like science fiction nonsense, but it has already proven to be a viable option.

In the 1990s, a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT, was used to produce the first mammal clone, Dolly the sheep, which was born in 1996 and died in 2003. But to clone an extinct animal, the Scientists would take a preserved cell and extract the nucleus. They would then exchange this nucleus for an egg from the animal's closest living relative and implant the egg into a surrogate host. Long-extinct animals like the woolly mammoth may never be cloned, but it could work for animals like the thylacine. Mike Archer, a palaeontologist at the University of New South Wales, led a pioneering project exploring thylacine cloning in the early 2000s, and in 2013 his team managed to clone embryos from another extinct species, the brooding frog. gastric.

And in 2008, a team led by Andrew Pask of the University of Melbourne was the first to take genetic material from an extinct species and make it work inside a living one by inserting thylacine DNA involved in bone and cartilage development into mouse embryos. Cloning a thylacine will be more challenging than Church's project to resurrect the mammoth using the Asian elephant because there is no equivalent species for the thylacine. But Pask's work has shown that what we once considered a ridiculous possibility 20 years ago is now becoming more and more possible. So when it comes to thylacine recovery, never say never!

What do you think of the whole extinction thing? Is it a great idea or a moral minefield? I'm really curious to hear your opinion, so let me know in the comments below. Let's start a discussion! Now where were we? The Dodo. Just like the Dodo, it's a common sigh of regret when another species joins the ever-growing list of recent extinctions. In fact, due to the rapid decline of this species, as well as its reputation for being just a few sandwiches away from a picnic, the Dodo bird has become something of a poster child for extinction. This flightless bird was also not that attractive.

It was larger than a turkey, weighing about 50 pounds, and had blue-gray plumage, a large head, tiny, useless wings, and stout yellow legs. The birds lived on the island of Mauritius and were first seen by Portuguese sailors around 1507. They eventually became extinct in the late 17th century after invasive species outcompeted the bird for food and ate their young. Less than 75 years after sailors colonized its island home, the Dodo bird was completely exterminated. But as we've learned now, extinction doesn't always mean forever. The extinction of the Dodo has been discussed at Revive and Restore, which is an organization focused on the genetic rescue of extinct and endangered species.

With the progress being made to restore the woolly mammoth and other similar creatures, the prospect seemed feasible at first, but there was one big problem: Dodo DNA is extremely difficult to find. All that remains of the Dodo is a head and foot in Oxford, a foot in the British Museum, a head in Copenhagen and more or less complete skeletons in various museums in Europe, the United States and Mauritius. But in 2016 there was a breakthrough. Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, announced that the entire genome of the extinct Dodo bird had been sequenced using the genome of the Nicobar pigeon, the Dodo's closest living relative, as a model.

And what is more? Mauritius, having lost most of its endemic species, is now home to some of the most incredible endangered species recovery projects in the world. Most endemic species are now confined to small, intensely managed reserves and predator-free satellite islands to protect them from what killed the Dodo: invasive species. Before humans appeared, Mauritius was a paradise for birds and reptiles, with a few species of bats being the only mammals endemic to the island. If the invasive mammals that have since thrived there were controlled, the Dodo might have a chance to survive. Scientists have already been toying with the idea.

One approach would involve genetically modifying mammals to reproduce and die using a gene that predisposes them to sex. Of course, this is all speculative for now, but it certainly seems like the return of the Dodo could still be imminent. La Moá. From one flightless bird to another, let me introduce you to the Moa, a group of at least nine species of enormous birds, some of which stand up to 12 feet tall and weigh a colossal 510 pounds. These impressive creatures became extinct at the end of the 17th century, after thearrival and proliferation of the Maori people in New Zealand, who saw the Moa as easy hunting targets with a lot of meat.

At the same time, habitat loss and impacts associated with other introduced species further helped seal their fate. But, after having disappeared for more than 700 years, it seems there may still be hope for these great birds. That's because scientists at Harvard University have been able to assemble the first nearly complete genome of an extinct species of Moa, the Little Bush Moa. But don't be fooled by the name. The Little Bush Moa was not small. He was over 4.3 feet tall and weighed approximately 66 pounds. That weighs more than a husky! DNA was reconstructed from the toe bone of a single museum specimen in 2018, and could begin a new chapter in the resurrection of these missing birds.

The team, led by Harvard's Alison Cloutier, used high-throughput sequencing techniques, which allowed them to sequence hundreds of thousands of DNA strands at a time. In another sister study, they used the Little Bush Moa genome, along with other DNA data, to determine that Moa are most closely related to kiwis, emus and cassowaries. The fact that these three birds are still alive opens up a world of possibilities. Resurrection of the Moa would require a little more genetic tweaking of the DNA extracted from the museum specimen and from an egg cell from a living species into which the genome could be implanted.

Fortunately, the six-inch-long, half-kilogram eggs emus lay might be the solution! But this step has proven to be more difficult in birds than in mammals. A reconstructed genome can be introduced into a mammalian egg with a cloning technique that Dolly the sheep created, but that does not yet work in birds. One hope is to find a solution that recently found success in chickens, which involves putting the genome into embryonic cells that become eggs or sperm to be successful in wild birds. So the Moa might remain in the land of the dead for now, but it's safe to say we shouldn't count them out just yet!

Siberian unicorn. What if I told you that unicorns once walked among us? I'm not talking about the elegant creatures in children's books, but an entirely different beast: the Siberian unicorn. Aside from the enormous horn on its nose, this creature, which roamed the grasslands of Eurasia, shares very few similarities with its fictional counterpart. In contrast, the Siberian unicorn weighed four tons and looked more like a giant, hairy rhinoceros. Over the years, some fragmented Siberian unicorn bones have been recovered and have been difficult to analyze. For example, a skull found in Kazakhstan in 2016 was said to be radiocarbon dated to 29,000 years ago, but because there was so little collagen, the result was considered unreliable.

But in 2018, all that changed when the mysterious giant's DNA was successfully analyzed for the first time. Although this enormous animal was originally thought to have gone extinct between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, radiocarbon dating of a total of 23 bone specimens by an international team of scientists found that the Ice Age giant survived in Eastern Europe and Central Asia until recently, 36,000 years ago. That means he roamed the Earth among the first modern humans! Surprisingly, however, humans probably had nothing to do with their extinction. Instead, new evidence shows that the sturdy beast may have eventually died because it was such a picky eater.

The Siberian Unicorn was like a glorified prehistoric lawnmower, lumbering along, grazing hard, dry grasses. But during a period of significant climate change, when other herbivores switched their diet to grasses, shrubs, and any other vegetation they could find, the Siberian unicorn did not adapt. Instead, it continued to graze what was left of the grass, even when the permafrost encroachment killed it. DNA analysis has also revealed that the Siberian unicorn was not closely related to modern rhinos, contrary to popular belief, but was instead a unique lineage that split from the line that led to modern rhinos more than 40 million years ago. years.

Scientists now hope that knowing more about the extinction of these animals can help save the planet's remaining rhinos. There are only five species of rhinoceroses left alive today and they are notoriously picky about their habitat. What we've already learned about the extinction of the Siberian unicorn has shown that it doesn't take major climate change to have vegetation responses that can wipe out an entire species, and this was even before humans had restricted ranges! ! Now people are looking at the vast grasslands, like the plains of Africa, with a worrying outlook, and a better understanding of the Siberian unicorn could be the key to preventing history from repeating itself.

As it is, complete specimens of Siberian unicorn have never been recovered. We don't even know how big its horn was because none have been found, however, part of the skull where the horn would have grown has been recovered and it has been estimated that it could have been up to a meter long. How much more we can learn about these magnificent creatures depends on how much DNA can be recovered. If a perfectly preserved specimen, like the woolly mammoth, were found frozen in ice, for example, scientists could successfully sequence the entire genome, offering the first steps toward its resurrection.

So while we may not see these creatures as soon as some of the other extinction candidates, there are certainly reasons to look into it! Passenger pigeon. I know what you're thinking. The last thing this world needs is more pigeons! But you might be surprised to learn that one of the leading candidates for extinction is exactly that: the passenger pigeon. It was a small, gray bird with a pinkish-red breast that was once extremely common in North America, but disappeared around 1900. Unlike today's pigeons, which are generally considered pests, passenger pigeons, whose numbers Estimated to have reached almost five billion at the beginning of the 19th century, they played a fundamental role in shaping the forests they inhabited.

Their numbers were so large and their droppings so frequent and flammable that they destroyed trees and increased forest fires. I know that doesn't sound like a very positive thing, but hear me out. After passenger pigeons became extinct, these healthy natural disturbances ceased, white oaks lost their primary mode of seed dispersal, and the forests have never been the same since. But why did this functionally unique species disappear? It seems that the reason for the extinction of passenger pigeons was, as you may have guessed, humans! People ate passenger pigeons in large numbers, but they also hunted and killed them because they perceived them as a threat to agriculture.

As Europeans migrated across North America, they diminished and eliminated the large forests that pigeons depended on. At a time when pigeons were already endangered, 250,000 birds, the last large flock, were hunted on a single day in 1896. That same year, the last passenger pigeon was observed in the wild in Louisiana. He was also shot. Way to go, guys! Fortunately, we may be able to make peace with these seed-spreading birds. Passenger pigeons were as essential to the forests they inhabited as woolly mammoths were to the tundra, so bringing them back could be an important step in restoring their former habitat.

Ecologist Ben Novak, lead researcher working on the Passenger Pigeon project at Revive and Restore, wants to resurrect the bird using its closest living relative, the band-tailed pigeon. But determining how many genes need to be exchanged is a daunting task. The genomes of the two birds are approximately 97% the same, but the remaining 3% has been accumulated over millions of years and will need to be discovered. Even then, it's a matter of getting the hybrid cell to grow a surrogate, hoping the genes will work together harmoniously, bringing the bird to term and expecting it to act like the extinct species, even though it was bred by a modern relative.

Still, Novak is hopeful. If his team gets enough funding, he says, "there's no reason we can't have" the first generation of passenger pigeons "by something like 2022 to 2025." So keep your eyes on the sky! Saber-toothed tiger. If you've seen the "Ice Age" movies, you know what a saber-toothed tiger looks like, except they were probably a lot scarier in real life. After all, these fearsome predators were named for the pair of elongated teeth protruding from their upper jaw, reaching a staggering 11 inches in length! These big cats roamed North and South America during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 10,000 years ago, likely as a combined result of environmental change, declining prey populations, and, of course, human intervention.

Despite its intimidating size, about five feet long and up to 620 pounds, and those extremely sharp canine teeth, the extinction of the saber-toothed tiger also coincided with the period when humans began to make great strides in hunting technology. . Although they may not have hunted them for food, they may have killed them for sport using simple projectile weapons. Over the years, scientists have discovered several sabertooth skeletons and fossils in places such as the La Brea tar pits in North America, which have revealed additional details about this impressive creature. We know they were large cats that had short limbs and scientists now believe they may have been similar in size to a modern-day African lion.

Despite the name, they were not actually related to modern tigers found in Asia. In fact, it has been suggested that their closest living relative is actually the clouded leopard, which are the only modern carnivores with cranial features that even approach saber-toothed proportions. Considering that sabertooths existed at the same time as woolly mammoths, and would have even eaten the occasional small mammoth, resurrecting these predators is not out of the question. If more complete and better preserved specimens are found frozen in the Siberian permafrost, they could allow scientists to extract DNA and successfully sequence the genome needed to revive the species.

Of course, the next step would be to determine which living relative could act as a successful substitute for the hybrid genome. But there is a big question. Is there any benefit to bringing back these Ice Age predators? As things stand, extinction has more to do with ecology than tourism. After all, it would be morally wrong to revive a species that will forever be a zoo animal or a new, more dangerous predator that could threaten existing species. It remains to be seen if the world is ready to see the saber-toothed tiger again for now, but, as we have learned, extinction is not always the end.

Which of these extinct animals would you most like to see recovered? Why don't you watch this video? These are supposedly extinct animals that people have caught on camera! Thanks for watching, guys! (brilliant music)