# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/41 "2019-06-13T20:56:48Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Variola major. > > Mwahahahahaha!! Techinically… it’s not _quite_ extinct… Me, I’m sort of torn between the Carolina Parakeet, or the ivory-billed woodpecker a.k.a. “The Lord God Bird”, the Neanderthals, one of the trilobite species… There is just so much to choose from. But today I’ll say Carolina Parakeet. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/42 "2019-06-13T21:12:04Z")
In one of Arthur C Clarke’s books, I forget which one, people in the future have brought back the passenger pigeon, and then find themselves annoyed by the noise of the flocks. Bit I’d revive them anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/43 "2019-06-13T21:24:58Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > 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. This. How would we interact with this new ethnic group? Well, we would learn a **lot** about them that we don’t know. There’s a suggestion their language skills didn’t match ours… but they lived at a time when no humans had writing, so how can we possibly know that? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/44 "2019-06-13T21:36:34Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > In one of Arthur C Clarke’s books, I forget which one, people in the future have brought back the passenger pigeon, and then find themselves annoyed by the noise of the flocks. Bit I’d revive them anyway. I dont think we have the huge hardwood forest habitat for them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/45 "2019-06-13T22:14:20Z")
> [@pool](#): > > The oceans aren’t terrifying enough so how about Dunkleosteus: > > [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkleosteus](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkleosteus) > > That or Sea Scorpions. Yes, sea scorpions! Then I’ll finally be able to figure out if they are edible. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/46 "2019-06-13T22:45:48Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I think those giant ferns (or whichever plant species was the predominant organism responsible) that ended up becoming oil would be a good candidate. I don’t know whether or not such a species could sequester enough CO2 to make a difference in fighting global warming, but it probably wouldn’t hurt. Oil is thought to mainly be zooplankton and algae. You might be thinking of coal. And the plants didn’t form coal beds due to any great CO2 sequestering capability, but because a) the climate and geography was such that great forested swamps covered huge areas, with plants and trees dropping into the swamp and not decaying due to anoxic conditions and b) bacteria not immediately catching up to evolve the ability to digest the newly evolved substancef “wood”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/47 "2019-06-13T23:03:52Z")
I say bring back baluchitheriums. Because elephants have been pretty arrogant and need to be taken down a notch. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/48 "2019-06-13T23:11:00Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Megalodon. Because humans don’t belong in the ocean, and they need to be reminded. Yeah this. Or, a milder version, we need to be reminded we aren’t so big. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/49 "2019-06-14T00:00:55Z")
Passenger pigeon. Given the op’s rules, that’d be a truly insanely large number of birds. There is, sadly, not enough habitat for all of them. So, capitalism will provide the answer: I will open KFPP, a chain of restaurants which will apply 11 secrets herbs and spices to passenger pigeons, until numbers are down to a stable population. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/50 "2019-06-14T00:04:32Z")
Megalodon is a bad idea. It would lend credibility to the Discovery Channel, and from there it’s a small step to all the other cable nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/51 "2019-06-14T00:37:57Z")
Bring back some good old fashioned [terror birds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorusrhacidae). ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/52 "2019-06-14T00:41:01Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > 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). This is my boring answer. My wildly irresponsible answer would be [Megalania.](http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/v/varanus-priscus.html) Because modern Australia isn’t deadly enough. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/53 "2019-06-14T02:56:54Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Me, I’m sort of torn between the Carolina Parakeet, or the ivory-billed woodpecker a.k.a. “The Lord God Bird”, the Neanderthals, one of the trilobite species… If I was going for a trilobite I suppose I would pick [_Terataspis grandis_](https://www.onlinefossilshop.com/shop/trilobites/terataspis-grandis/). An ammonite, maybe [_Diplomoceras maximum_](http://www.geologicallocations.com/antarctica/Fossils/Diplomoceras.htm) or _[Parapuzosia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parapuzosia_seppenradensis) [seppenradensis](http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/p/parapuzosia.html)_. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/54 "2019-06-14T05:46:54Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > I’d use it to bring back the Thylacine. I’d love to see one in person. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, one of my top choices also, and it wouldn’t upset the environment. There is a small possibility that it is still around. Another vote from me, for the old “Tiger” – a creature I’ve always thought delightful. Very sadly, I have the impression that general opinion is: that the possibility of its still being with us, is truly infinitesimally small. Tasmania just isn’t that big – if thylacines had survived to the present day, they’d have been rediscovered by now. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/55 "2019-06-14T10:36:04Z")
One of the island mini-elephant species, probably _Palaeoloxodon falconeri_. Have people in place in Sicily and Malta to round them up when they first appear, and make a killing in the exotic pet market. 1m high elephants - they’ll sell like hotcakes. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/56 "2019-06-14T11:37:57Z")
Ooh, there was a one-meter elephant? Okay, that’s my choice. I’m most intrigued by one of the extinct versions of human, but the downside is so high, as they would be likely to be enslaved or slaughtered again. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/57 "2019-06-14T12:01:34Z")
It could be that the most delicious fowl became extinct just because it was so delicious. I’d vote that one back now that we have the know-how to farm them. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/58 "2019-06-14T14:14:52Z")
I think we should use this once-in-history opportunity to solve some _real_ mystery. Like, what the heck was _Cothurnocystis_? Echinoderm, chordate or something equally close to both? Seriously, that’s one weird looking creature! [Cothurnocystis - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cothurnocystis) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/59 "2019-06-14T14:28:41Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > I think we should use this once-in-history opportunity to solve some _real_ mystery. Like, what the heck was _Cothurnocystis_? Echinoderm, chordate or something equally close to both? > > Seriously, that’s one weird looking creature! [Cothurnocystis - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cothurnocystis) You think _that’s_ weird, when we have all the Burgess fauna to mine for weirdness in all its 5-stalk-eyed [glory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opabinia#/media/File:Opabinia_regalis_life_restoration.jpg)? If the OP didn’t have that “must survive in current environment” caveat, that’s where I’d be looking. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480/60 "2019-06-14T14:52:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > If the OP didn’t have that “must survive in current environment” caveat, that’s where I’d be looking. As I understood him, there’s no such caveat; species will simply die off if environment doesn’t suit them. As long as we could get some specimens before the seagulls, I don’t mind them being dead. Might actually prefer it that way; won’t upset the ecosystem! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/de-extinctify-a-species/835480.md?page=4)