Should we resurrect the dinosaurs and let them roam uninhabited land?

[Deleted]

If the dinosaurs then do some collective kamehameha and destroy the Earth, then sure, let's bring them back.

[Kujako]

That's not what they're talking about! The.. well.. title is a bit misleading. :P

Well no DNA, no "resurrection". Unless we're talking about magic, in which case there are other issues that need to be addressed before we get to dinosaurs.

[Manhands]

The 10 year old in me says YES, THIS IS A GOOD IDEA.
The 30 year old in me realizes that the plant life has evolved, their immune systems wouldn't have adapted, and they would probably die off really quickly. BUT STILL A GOOD IDEA.

[Yarathir]

Well no DNA, no "resurrection". Unless we're talking about magic, in which case there are other issues that need to be addressed before we get to dinosaurs.

What they're referring to is just unlocking dormant genes within birds that once belonged to dinosaurs. The article even mentions that they'll not be like the old dinosaurs, but they'll essentially be a form of dinosaur.

Like I said: misleading title. It isn't resurrecting them, it's creating a new species modeled after the extinct species.

- - - Updated - - -

The 10 year old in me says YES, THIS IS A GOOD IDEA.
The 30 year old in me realizes that the plant life has evolved, their immune systems wouldn't have adapted, and they would probably die off really quickly. BUT STILL A GOOD IDEA.

The method mentioned in the article isn't about resurrecting dinosaurs as they were, in perfect pristine state.

It basically talks about intentionally activating dormant genes in birds (closest to the dinosaurs of old) that belonged to dinosaurs and maybe mixing in a bit of transgenesis to make up for what has been lost in birds through generations of breeding.

So they would just be birds that we artificially "mutated" to look like dinosaurs. Their functions would generally be the same as the bird species that they belong to, so there'd be no such issues.

Essentially, say, a chicken, with a raptor skin. :P

[DarkTZeratul]

Why not? More diversity of creatures is almost always pretty interesting to me.

Invasive species will fuck up the ecosystem but good. I can't imagine how much worse it would be to introduce an extinct super-predator.

[Yarathir]

Invasive species will fuck up the ecosystem but good. I can't imagine how much worse it would be to introduce an extinct super-predator.

For one, of course they'd have to remain in parks or isolated places.

And again, it's not literally resurrecting dinosaurs of old with their old behaviors and traits.

It's grabbing, for example, a chicken, and activating the traits that were rendered obsolete but still exist within. Much the same way humans can grow still grow a tail because it is a recessive gene that can sometimes pop up in babies. Except this would be intentional and focused on making them look as much like dinosaurs as possible. Again, it'd probably include a bit of transgenesis to make up for all that was lost, such as the ability for hard, reptilian teeth, which is also possible to do-- but..

Essentially, it'd be like making a chicken with a raptor skin. It could look like a raptor, hell - they might really be able to make it resemble the raptor of old, but it'd still just be a chicken, with chicken traits, that looks like a raptor.

So it'd behave like a chicken.

Just an intentionally mutated chicken made to look like a raptor by toying with its genes.

[Kalcheus]

I was more thinking of these guys:

They're not dinosaurs; they share a common ancestor with dinosaurs, but are cousins, not descendants.

Birds are descended from dinosaurs.

***

Besides, Mammoths got dibs.

[Kujako]

What they're referring to is just unlocking dormant genes within birds that once belonged to dinosaurs. The article even mentions that they'll not be like the old dinosaurs, but they'll essentially be a form of dinosaur.

But they wouldn't... they would be a form of bird. No dinosaur DNS, nothing to compare birds against, no way to say "this here bit is dino' dna, lets turn it on".

[Kalcheus]

Dinosaurs had their shot and they blew it, sorry :P

Blew it? Are you kidding me? They're the real heroes!

[Yarathir]

But they wouldn't... they would be a form of bird. No dinosaur DNS, nothing to compare birds against, no way to say "this here bit is dino' dna, lets turn it on".

The article already mentions one such thing. They made an embryo develop a dinosaur snout rather than a bird beak, which was possible because this growth was already coded, just dormant - unused.

[Zarc]

But they wouldn't... they would be a form of bird. No dinosaur DNS, nothing to compare birds against, no way to say "this here bit is dino' dna, lets turn it on".

Well if they would be a form of bird, by extension, they would be a form of dinosaur.

Until the late 20th century, all groups were believed to be extinct; however, the fossil record indicates that birds are modern feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from theropod ancestors during the Jurassic Period.[2] As such, birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the mass extinction event.[3] ... Dinosaurs are a varied group of animals from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10000 living species,[4] are the most diverse group of vertebrates besides perciform fish.[5] ... Through the first half of the 20th century, before birds were recognized to be dinosaurs, most of the scientific community believed dinosaurs to have been sluggish and cold-blooded.

[Deleted]

Essentially, it'd be like making a chicken with a raptor skin. It could look like a raptor, hell - they might really be able to make it resemble the raptor of old, but it'd still just be a chicken, with chicken traits, that looks like a raptor.

Essentially, humans are just differently looking monkeys.

[Damajin]

Who needs robot armies to fight ISIS we can just make dino armies instead.

[xskarma]

I think we should totally do this. I'm convinced Dinosaurs would live very happily in Southern California.

@Tziva

[Yarathir]

Essentially, humans are just differently looking monkeys.

Well, if you stimulate dormant genes and traits in such a way that they get activated in a new human baby, they'll probably look quite different from typical humans. :P

It doesn't mention recreating 1:1 representations of how we believe raptors looked like by today's scientific interpretations of the fossils, but getting pretty damn close. It's design your own baby: the bird edition.

[Noradin]

http://www.pravdareport.com/science/...4-dinosaurs-0/

Who wouldn't want dinosaurs to roam around in their country's low pop regions.

Why would we do something that stupid, dangerous, and useless?

[Kuntantee]

Article says its impossible to resurrect dinosaurs?

[Deleted]

Poachers and magical Chinese brews anyone?

[Gheld]

Aren't birds technically dinosaurs ?

[Tziva]

Aren't birds technically dinosaurs ?

Yes and no. They are the closest surviving relatives and the only living branch of that "tree" that once included an entire class of dinosaurs (other classes have no living relatives at all).

So, yeah, one could totally argue that birds are dinosaurs. However, while they wouldn't be inaccurate technically, colloquially when people say the word "dinosaur" they are not talking about birds, so it's a little misleading to refer to them that way.

Also:

I think we should totally do this. I'm convinced Dinosaurs would live very happily in Southern California.

@Tziva

SUP.