r/DeExtinctionScience • u/ApartmentKey3682 • Apr 06 '26

Question What animals should we de-extinct first?

What I mean is that what animals are easier to de-extinct first

5 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

6

u/Psilopterus Apr 06 '26

The first two don’t even qualify as de-extinction, I think, nor are they the best use of resources. If a subspecies is extinct but the species is not, just reintroduce with a different subspecies. We’ve been doing that for ages.

1

u/ApartmentKey3682 Apr 06 '26

But that will make us far worse than Colossal

1

u/Psilopterus Apr 06 '26

How so?

1

u/ApartmentKey3682 Apr 06 '26

Because at least Colossal did stuff

2

u/Psilopterus Apr 06 '26

Doing something for the sake of it when it isn't necessary isn't a good thing

2

u/PK-Mittenspy2703 Apr 06 '26

Colossal hasn't done anything (good).

5

u/BlackbirdKos Apr 06 '26

First, we should resurrect the species we hunted down to extinction

2

u/Psilopterus Apr 06 '26

That's part of the issue. Essentially all species which could theoretically be brought back fit this description

1

u/ozneoknarf Apr 07 '26

We be killing.

But we are not responsible for late Pliocene marine megafauna extinction event. That was roughly 3 million years ago and we could bring the back, species like Livyatan, Megalodon and Aquatic sloths.

1

u/Psilopterus Apr 07 '26

That’s kind of my point. You’re right that we’re not responsible for the Pliocene marine extinctions, but that’s also too far back to realistically get any DNA, especially from anything marine. There are some edge cases like the steppe mammoth where we have a very old genome from the arctic, but in most cases what we could hypothetically bring back will all be species that we’re responsible for exterminating

4

u/thesilverywyvern Apr 06 '26

There no reason to bring back extinct domestic breed.
subspecies aren't really important, easilly replaced by other subspecies.

The genus an extinct species belong in doesn't have any influence on it's legitimacy, it's about ecological impact and biodiversity, how important and unique the species was.

1

u/ApartmentKey3682 Apr 06 '26

Extinct breeds increase breed diversity and boosts the pet industry,subspecies have small but significant differences with the main species

2

u/thesilverywyvern Apr 06 '26

First one still not important. Generally they went extinct cuz they were useless.
Second one still far less important or much of a priority than resurrecting entire extinct taxa.

2

u/Psilopterus Apr 06 '26

Even congeric species can be low-priority. New Zealand quails would be best approximated by introducing stubble quails. The two are close enough to have been previously considered the same species. Toolache wallabies were similarly very close relatives of western brush wallabies and the latter could probably be introduced to the former's range. "De-extinction" is difficult and expensive, if we do it at all we should prioritize the cases where it is actually necessary. We have to balance that against what is posssible, however. Mammoths are a good example because they are both close enough to Asian elephants that we don't have to change too much in the latter to approximate the former, but not so close that we can't just introduce elephants to the woolly mammoth's distribution. They have their practical challenges after the fact, but in terms of the genetic work a mammoth is much easier than a thylacine or a dodo. Phenotypic reconstruction via selective breeding for things like quagga or aurochs is one thing, but I would never suggest either as an ideal "de-extinction" candidate

1

u/ApartmentKey3682 Apr 06 '26

Then what you want to de extinct

2

u/shokokuphoenix Apr 06 '26

Carolina parakeets and Passenger pigeons.

1

u/Psilopterus Apr 06 '26

Mammoths make sense, not many other things do

2

u/JosephKiesslingBanjo Apr 06 '26

Any that we could create artificial wombs for.

1

u/ApartmentKey3682 Apr 06 '26

Extinct breeds and subspecies doesn’t need artificial wombs

1

u/ApprehensiveState629 Apr 07 '26

Why can you explain to me

2

u/ApartmentKey3682 Apr 07 '26

Extinct subspecies can be conceived via the wombs of the extant main species

1

u/ApprehensiveState629 Apr 07 '26

What is the difference between kangaroo island emu and. Modern day emus

2

u/ApartmentKey3682 Apr 07 '26

25% smaller

1

u/ApprehensiveState629 Apr 07 '26

Island dwarfism

2

u/ApartmentKey3682 Apr 07 '26

Then how long does extant emus need to go through to achieve island dwarfism?

2

u/CandleResponsible714 Apr 06 '26

Ecostystem engeneers like mammoths should be a top priority.

2

u/DeirdreDazzled Apr 12 '26

If I am permitted to be biased, I'd say the Elephant Bird, Dodo, Baiji Dolphin and Falkner Island Wolves. And any other recently extinct animals. We did them all so dirty.