That’s what I mean - but I’m not interested in using the machine as a “get a better preserved dead specimen” tool. I’m going to want to bring back something for good. And for profit, if possible.
It’s probably a reflection on me that one of the first thoughts I had was “well, I heard ______ was really tasty.” I mean, it could maybe be sustainably farmed now.
I’m not sure what species I’d choose. While preserving species and biodiversity and ecosystem balance is important, the existence of any particular species in and of itself isn’t important to me. Especially a species that I’ve never had a personal interaction with.
And, of course, the consequences have to be thought of. Will it upset the current ecosystem? In terms of neanderthals and such, there’s the issue of confusion, emotional upset, discrimination, slavery, being viewed as animals by humans, etc.
One of the big ones? Or one of the smaller ones, the lawn moa?
[whine]Yeah, the one mentioned in the OP[/whine]…
A bit of my brain wants to switch though, and go for something like the Dusky Seaside Sparrow, just to see how long it takes anyone to notice…
I’d go for Stegosaurus ungulatus, so that we could definitively answer the question: how did those things mate?
Going half-serious again, I avoided dinosaurs because I would hate to de-extinct something just to see it go extinct again; I’m not sure the aliens said anything about adapting said creature to the world today. The differences in atmosphere give me serious doubts if any of the animals like that could make it today. In other words I had more issues with Jurassic Park than just the cloning.
I’m something of a fan of the Great Auk; and – the things IMO not necessarily irreconcilable – it might possibly have food significance, as well as “nice to have it back” ditto. I believe I’ve read that one of the factors in the Great Auk’s undoing, was that it was good to eat; unlike the Southern Hemisphere’s penguins, which I gather taste vile.
I’ve no doubt that DrDeth is right, and that the revived Great Auk would thrive, conserved by the Icelanders. Enough maybe for a modest annual auk harvest, to supply up-market restaurants for purveying to diners at fancy prices – after all, puffin is regularly on the menu in Iceland…
Thinking outside the box! (And thank you – I was trying to remember that word a few days ago.)
But you said you wanted woolly mammoths, not Columbian mammoths…
Decisions, decisions…
Bison latifrons.
Deinotherium giganteum.
Paraceratherium.
Stegodon.
Titanotylopus.
Gigantopithecus blacki.
Thalassocnus.
Give me a couple of years to make up my mind…
Go to your room and think about what you just did.
I don’t agree with all the choices, but the reasoning is unquestionable.
Another good option–the Steller’s Sea Cow. Extinct for less than 300 years. (Oh, the huge manatee!)
:smack: The first time I read that, I though it was a lawn flamingo joke.
dodo bird
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Ooh, good choice! That’s probably the most responsible option.
Oops. Uh, yeah, i noticed that…
I want to have a mammoth hunting lodge. Metal, plastic, and gunpowder would be forbidden. If you want to dine on mammoth steak, like your ancestors did, you have to hunt it with a spear, like your ancestors did.
(And fend off the predators like your ancestors did. I know the OP said we only get one species, but could we get sabertooth cats or dire wolves also?)
3’ tall mini-elephamts? They’d become house pets. And where could we release them back in the wild? Not Crete, it’s nearly a desert now after 1000 years of goats.
Now the Channel Islands mammoth could be released, since the islands are mostly parks, but very likely too warm now and the flora may be all wrong. Not to mention not much fresh water.
Variola Major.
Why so serious? 
Yup! Though you’d probably want a few as I bet they’d be social, so you’d need a big yard.
They probably wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild in Crete, but they shouldn’t be too hard to catch up to move, and wouldn’t be messing up ecosystems if a few did manage to survive. They’ll be popping into existence there, but they don’t have to stay there if you can work out how to move 'em.
I’m trying to be irresponsible responsibly.
(My bolding) – seeing this post, my initial thought was: if that were to be done, the Jersey Zoo at least would have to have a breeding pair – that’s what the place, founded by Gerald Durrell, is all about. Came to mind then: never heard of mammoths in the pre-history of the British Channel Islands… resorted to Google: reference is indeed, to the Californian ditto :o …