Creating Artificial Prehistoric Animals?

[Kaleredar]

http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201...kan-wilderness related to our discussion of reintroducing large land animals to northern climate. The wood bison is north america's largest land animal, so its return to Alaska should be a huge cause for celebration from an ecosystem perspective.

Yes, but those are animals that were extirpated (note, extirpated) very recently. Not animals that went extinct 10,000+ years ago due in no small part to a changing climate that was not happening due to mankind

[Deleted]

We are already doing that, it's called The Parliament or The Congress, depending on where you're from.

[Celista]

Yes, but those are animals that were extirpated (note, extirpated) very recently. Not animals that went extinct 10,000+ years ago due in no small part to a changing climate that was not happening due to mankind

Yes, if you read through the thread I had said that we have large herbivores that are not extinct and already adapted to arctic climates, like musk oxen in Alaska (also obviously caribou and moose).

[Osoroshii]

I'm all for anything that creates a real Jurassic Park, even if that means fudging the genetics to make the creatures look like the dinosaurs we're used to from movies and childhood books instead of whatever they really looked like. I don't care how stupidly dangerous the park might be, my inner child wouldn't be able to resist going and if possible, I would buy a dog-sized pygmy dino in a heartbeat.

[Lumineus]

They are technically creating a cold adapted Asian elephant with mammoth DNA that would complete the still needed ecological role in the Arctic. However, I did contradict myself on the dinosaur thing.

I still find it interesting that nobody's commenting on the idea of creating animals that closely or distantly resemble fantasy creatures. I mean does anybody really interject with the idea of genetically engineering a horned horse? Honest question

Well, I don't know if I object, but I'm not sure how you would make it. At least, not the way you wanted. Have you seen a horse skull? There's just nothing to work with in the forehead, it's just a flat area. You would have to figure out how to cause a benign mutation that would allow a bony prominence to develop there in order to then engineer it into the horn by introducing variance into the mutated genome. More likely with today's tech you would have to settle for attempts at nasal or brow horns, you would end up with a Nightmare instead of a Unicorn.

[Hammerfest]

You're 95-98% the same as a halibut genetically...

Yeah, and it's that 5-2% that makes all the difference and we don't have it when it comes to dinosaurs. Sorry to break that to you. Dried up dinosaur blood found in mosquitoes stuck in amber won't give you what you need either.

[Tuor]

Mammoths were a sister genus to the Asian elephant.

You are correct, i thought it was the oposite.

From wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth

2015 Harvard University successfully added mammoth DNA into the code of an Asian elephant, starting the process of bringing them back from extinction.

Lets all hope they can achive a living cub... Anyway, it will be a hybrid cub, not a true mammoth.

[Techno-Druid]

Yeah, and it's that 5-2% that makes all the difference and we don't have it when it comes to dinosaurs. Sorry to break that to you. Dried up dinosaur blood found in mosquitoes stuck in amber won't give you what you need either.

oh yeah, it's certain that we'll never create an authentic dinosaur, but I believe what MerinPally is trying to say is that you don't have to go far from a bird to find a non-avian dinosaur in some shape.

[Hammerfest]

Mammoths were a sister genus to the Asian elephant.

And yet the genetic difference between a mammoth and an Asian elephant is about the same as a difference between a chimpanzee and a human being.

[Techno-Druid]

And yet the genetic difference between a mammoth and an Asian elephant is about the same as a difference between a chimpanzee and a human being.

om
Yes, however it's still not certain that we and chimpanzee so different from humans

[Beery Swine]

As cool as dinosaurs would be, I gotta go with fantasy animals. I wanna see Dunmers and Drow walking around all nonchalant, half-trolls and orcs and other cool fantasy animals.

[Techno-Druid]

As cool as dinosaurs would be, I gotta go with fantasy animals. I wanna see Dunmers and Drow walking around all nonchalant, half-trolls and orcs and other cool fantasy animals.

Honestly to actually make humanoids, we really wouldn't have to go far from the human genome. In many respects, Neanderthals were actually similar to dwarves as they were shorter than man and possessed larger craniums. There was also a diminutive species of humanoid that lived in Southeast Asia that stood only three feet tall.

We've already modified unicorn horns on cattle, sheep and goats...

[Deleted]

I want a blue, mammoth sized cat that I can ride. Science do your thing

[Halyon]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No. Because it'll fuck up ecosystems unless these animals are kept solely in captitivity, in which case, wth is the point? You won't get extinct animals back, they're extinct for a reason if they're that ancient (because we weren't around to kill them).

Unless by artificial you mean robots, in which case, I don't think the technology is that frivolous yet...

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When they find a genome that'll permanently set the thing on fire as well, sign me up! I prefer nightmares over unicorns...

[Beery Swine]

Honestly to actually make humanoids, we really wouldn't have to go far from the human genome. In many respects, Neanderthals were actually similar to dwarves as they were shorter than man and possessed larger craniums. There was also a diminutive species of humanoid that lived in Southeast Asia that stood only three feet tall.

We've already modified unicorn horns on cattle, sheep and goats...

All I read was Dunmer and Orcs will be our future designer babies. Yeah. I wonder how difficult it'll be in the future to alter the living in such a way?

[Lumineus]

We've already modified unicorn horns on cattle, sheep and goats...

Yes, with grafts. Surgery. If you want the animal to naturally be like that, however, it's going to be considerably more challenging.

[Deleted]

Dragons and Dinosaurs of course.

[Techno-Druid]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No. Because it'll fuck up ecosystems unless these animals are kept solely in captitivity, in which case, wth is the point? You won't get extinct animals back, they're extinct for a reason if they're that ancient (because we weren't around to kill them).

Unless by artificial you mean robots, in which case, I don't think the technology is that frivolous yet...

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When they find a genome that'll permanently set the thing on fire as well, sign me up! I prefer nightmares over unicorns...

We literally coevolved with the mammoth, of course we hunted them and survived into the early Holocene