Bringin’ ‘em Back Alive! ~ Saturday's Digs

Australian Beach 2009, Photo Credit: GAP

G’day everyone,

Passenger Pigeons became extinct in 1914 when the very last one died in captivity in an Ohio zoo. Billions of these birds lived all over North America’s east. We, humans, hunted them to extinction.

Science’s gene-editing toolbox, CRISPR-Cas9, delivers the ability to edit and modify physical characteristics of anything containing DNA. One “de-extinction” team believes it will soon revive the passenger pigeon. Their goal is to reintroduce the species into its former North American habitat. It appears that passenger-pigeon flocks significantly contributed to the biodiversity of forests. The birds’ sheer numbers transported seeds nitrogen-rich waste and organisms between forests. Now, many such areas have become fragile stands and patches of trees.

As were the successes of reintroducing the wolf to Yellowstone Park and a species of deer into Kentucky, passenger pigeons are the next targeted species. Their reintroduction, however, is a greater challenge as the species is extinct.

Thankfully, passenger-pigeon DNA is plentiful — it exists within museums, homes, and taxidermists’ offices in the form of stuffed and mounted animals.

Please read more … https://singularityhub.com/2018/10/23/de-extinction-is-now-a-thing-starting-with-passenger-pigeons/#sm.00001iofqkzg1pe68qqxia0om8p5j

A near-extinction, similar because of its impact on other species, occurred prior to the nearly global ban on whale hunting. Unknown until recently, as we humans decimated whale populations, we also destroyed ecosystems dependent upon whale carcasses that sank to the bottom of oceans and seas. Down there on the murky bottom, several scavenging species migrate from one dead whale's body to the next, churning out rich wastes that feed even more organisms.

As hunting eliminated generations of whales, so did it inadvertently wipe out thousands of species that relied upon dead whales. As such, the biodiversity and strength of bottom-feeding animals and organisms were subsequently scaled down.thus began a collapse that we were oblivious to.

Just as huge populations of animals rely upon plankton as a surface-level food source, a similar, yet distinctly different, system thrives at the bottom of oceans and seas. Instead of being sunlight-dependent, higher life forms feed upon the broken-down elements and minerals swirling within the deepest of oceanic layers.

Then, there exist those creatures that thrive between both extreme levels. They feed upon the animals and organisms. Without these nutrient-rich layers, life couldn’t be supported any deeper than sunlight could penetrate. This means that the majority of our oceans’ volumes might be devoid of most lifeforms.

It continues to amaze me how profoundly dependent and fragile everything on Earth is. It seems to me that we hold the survival of most species in our hands. We still behave irrationally and improperly (a la “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”).

Can you imagine the condition the world would be in had we succeeded in killing off all the great whales? Which species) do you think we should “de-extinct,” and why? I’m curious to read your comments.

Have a nice day.

~ R.J.