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New mammoth find could aid cloning efforts


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Scientists have unearthed a well-preserved mammoth specimen on the Lyakhovsky Islands in Eastern Russia.

Discovered by the members of a team dedicated to bringing the extinct elephant ancestor back to life, the new specimen is particularly important because it includes samples of skin which scientists believe can be used to extract DNA for cloning purposes.

Read More: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/287036/new-mammoth-find-could-aid-cloning-efforts

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Pleistocene Park just doesn't have the same ring to it. Nor does Pleistocene World.

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Pleistocene Park just doesn't have the same ring to it. Nor does Pleistocene World.

Maybe not, but a pride of Smilodon fatalis would be neat.

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Not in my backyard !

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When I read "mammoth find", I wondered what huge haul had been unearthed.

I was very disappointed to find it was just another big elephant.

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Perhaps the question might be, should we be bringing back the woolly mammoth in light of the current extinction rate, caused by humans, estimated to be at least one thousand times higher than the natural rate. Should we be focused on preserving that which we have?

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Perhaps the question might be, should we be bringing back the woolly mammoth in light of the current extinction rate, caused by humans, estimated to be at least one thousand times higher than the natural rate. Should we be focused on preserving that which we have?

Well maybe we should ask maybe we should focus on saving children rather than almost extinct animals, and then again we could ask maybe we should focus on being happy rather than helping others. Did you ever hear of multitasking?

When I read "mammoth find", I wondered what huge haul had been unearthed.

I was very disappointed to find it was just another big elephant.

Cute
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Perhaps the question might be, should we be bringing back the woolly mammoth in light of the current extinction rate, caused by humans, estimated to be at least one thousand times higher than the natural rate.

It is important to understand that this is only possible with the mammoth because we found well enough preserved remains for cloning, as good as living flesh. It won't be possible with say, the dodo or any other museum DNA. Or at least, it is not possible yet.

As for Smilodon fatalis, we don't have any frozen remains of these, so it's not even in the choices. Cloning mammoth is a one of a kind possibility.

Then, we are talking of Northern Eurasia. Even if worldwide, the trend is to losing natural wilderness, Eastern Europe and wider Russia are seeing the forest and other wild land expanding. It's due to historical factor of decreasing population and urbanization. A lot of wild animals are making a come back in Europe, some naturally like the wolf, others with the help of humans like the European beaver. Cloned mammoth would naturally be best for places which aren't at the front line of overpopulation, deforestation and poaching, so it's not like they are trying to reintroduce a lost species into a shrinking habitat.

So, we can clone the mammoth as we have the proper skin cell to proceed. We have the right habitat in an underpopulated, wild region of the world. They are even restoring the Pleistocene fauna's balance in a scientific project in Siberia, a place where the mammoth last lived. At least, everything seems to be favorable for a successful reintroduction of the animal if such a thing can be successful.

Should we be focused on preserving that which we have?

Each area has unique challenges, in some place, just preserving is a never ending uphill battle. In others, preservation is already well established and reintroducing is where the scientific project is. We are not talking of reintroducing long dead species here, but locally extinct animals who survived elsewhere. Like musk oxen in Scandinavia or wolves in Yosemite Park, or even the return of the horse in the great plains of North America with the feral Mustang horse (which wasn't made on purpose, but still reintroduced wild horses millenia after it was locally hunted to extinction).

Reintroducing mammoth in Siberia wouldn't be too different than the long haul reintroducing job of the European Bison. Instinct in the wild by WWI, with only 54 animals left in the zoo, all descendants of just 12 progenitors, they are now over 3000 running wild in the parks of Europe, in some place where they were no Bison since over a millenia. With the mamouth, if they can clone each of the 6 individuals they found in the article, if they are not too closely related and, even better, if they can found a few others, we could reach the critical number to really bring back the king of the Pleistocene within 200 years.

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Perhaps the question might be, should we be bringing back the woolly mammoth in light of the current extinction rate, caused by humans, estimated to be at least one thousand times higher than the natural rate. Should we be focused on preserving that which we have?

I say bring them back, breed them, and use them as a food and ivory source to save modern elephants.

Harte

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