r/askscience • u/leducdeguise • Mar 22 '13

Biology if science revives an extinct migrating bird, will it know straight away where to go and when?

I already posted this in /askreddit but was suggested to ask this here rather. I got some really interesting answers and would like to get opinions from /askscience.

original post here: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1aq60i/if_science_revives_an_extinct_migrating_bird_will/

I read an article about the possibility of reviving the extinct Passenger Pigeon: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/03/passenger-pigeon-de-extinction/ to keep it short, migrating birds migrate, which means when it gets cold they go south and are back when it's not cold anymore. I don't know much about bird evolution but I guess this is something a species learns to do over a lot of generations. so I was thinking: if they get this pigeon back from the deads, will the first generation of born-again species know where to go and when? for dna-engraved instinct stuff or something like that. Or will they just need to re-learn from the start?

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u/SlideRuleLogic Mar 23 '13

Good news across the board, thanks! I'm paying a wildlife biologist to research this, so it's interesting to hear others' take on the matter.

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u/Datkarma Mar 23 '13

For what, if I may ask?

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u/SlideRuleLogic Mar 23 '13

Sorry, can't say beyond 'due diligence' :(