# De-extinctify a species **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480 "2019-06-13T15:58:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/1 "2019-06-13T15:58:27Z")
As thanks for providing advanced aliens with up to date directions to the Horsehead Nebula (\*someone \*forgot to update the GalaxyNav), you have been given a single use disposable de-extictifier. If you choose to use it, one extinct species of your choosing will be resurrected. The species will appear in numbers approximately that of the mid-point of the species’ existence, so rather a lot of them may pop into existence. They will appear at ground level at the point of the planet they were found in, unless that is now water when they were land-dwelling or vice versa, in which case they will appear on the closest water/land as appropriate. If the environment is otherwise unsuited- wrong oxygen levels, too hot/cold/salty- they’ll just re-extinctify in short order, unless someone manages to save a few (didn’t think they’d given you the premium model, did you?) The machine can’t be copied; it’s in a sealed box and any attempt to open it will trigger the combustion of the contents, leaving just a note saying ‘This is part of the reason no other species want to talk to you’. Do you use it? What would you bring back? I think I’m having _Mammuthus creticus_: Cretan mini-mammoths. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/2 "2019-06-13T16:07:01Z")
I would hesitate because the historical results of introducing a species into a new area is not good. I’d leave well enough alone. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/3 "2019-06-13T16:07:34Z")
Save it until the humpback whales go extinct, because I do NOT want to see Leonard Nimoy in swim trunks again. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/4 "2019-06-13T16:14:06Z")
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/5 "2019-06-13T16:16:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. Now that’s the kind of irresponsible behaviour I was expecting 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/6 "2019-06-13T16:25:00Z")
[Quetzalcoatlus northropi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus) Maybe people would start looking up at the sky from time to time and not always have their mind stuck in a phone. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/7 "2019-06-13T16:32:53Z")
_Homo floresiensis_. It’s lonely being the only sophonts on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/8 "2019-06-13T16:33:59Z")
I’d use it to bring back the Thylacine. I’d love to see one in person. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/9 "2019-06-13T16:34:19Z")
Megalodon. Because humans don’t belong in the ocean, and they need to be reminded. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/10 "2019-06-13T16:53:52Z")
Sylphium ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/11 "2019-06-13T16:57:37Z")
I’m just too pedestrian. I’d vote for sabre tooth tigers. Because they are just too cool. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/12 "2019-06-13T16:58:40Z")
The Coelacanth. IT WORKED! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/13 "2019-06-13T16:59:48Z")
How does it work? Do you just type in the common name of the species? If so, let’s be really optimistic and have a shot at “Unicorn”. This might just make other species like us a little better, too. j ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/14 "2019-06-13T17:02:33Z")
Gut reaction would be say the Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus) but pondering a little more I am leaning towards the Mammoth. Predators would be cool and a kick to hunt but I figure the populations in general would be safer with one of those two. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/15 "2019-06-13T17:07:24Z")
Wooly mammoth. I’d love to see a shit ton of those big buggers rampaging around Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/16 "2019-06-13T17:13:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > _Homo floresiensis_. It’s lonely being the only sophonts on the planet. Uh, need more info on the de-extinctification. Do tens of thousands of (basically human) babies suddenly appear? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/17 "2019-06-13T17:15:29Z")
Probably something that shouldn’t have gone extinct in the first damn place, like [Ectopistes migratorius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon) or [Thylacinus cynocephalus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine). ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/18 "2019-06-13T17:23:51Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > How does it work? Do you just type in the common name of the species? If so, let’s be really optimistic and have a shot at “Unicorn”. > > This might just make other species like us a little better, too. > > j They’ve been making regular sneaky trips to Earth, building up a genetic database of everything and doing eco surveys for millions of years (a student project that got a bit out of hand), so it can come up with any species that actually existed. It’s all linked up to an exceptionally well organised database of current common and scientific names, so you can pretty well try any name, and mostly it can work out what you mean, showing multiple images if multiple species share a common name or the spelling’s ambiguous. Instructions appear in your language, calibrated as best as it can for ease of use by you. If it’s not in the database or it can’t work out what you mean, there’s a selection of increasingly patronising error messages. I think asking for a unicorn would get one of the ‘Well, bless your heart’ level. ETA: the organisms that pop into existence are a representative population, so a mix of adults and young for most species. You wouldn’t just get 4,000,000,000 passenger pigeon eggs. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/19 "2019-06-13T17:34:20Z")
Neanderthals. Though if a bunch pop into existence, will they have fully formed memories, personalities, and senses of self? Better if we get some babies to raise as future NFL nose tackles. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/20 "2019-06-13T17:35:48Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Wooly mammoth. I’d love to see a shit ton of those big buggers rampaging around Los Angeles. You wouldn’t find any, though, as Los Angeles was not where they lived. You would probably prefer [Mastodons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon). I’m tempted to choose [Aurochs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs), as they would probably the most boring of all extinct species to resurrect. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480.md?page=2)