I was musing last night, partway into a bottle of Czech Strong Absinth, that certain animals would be wildly popular as pets if they were created/recreated through genetic engineering. Couple examples:
Pigs. Pot-bellied pigs had a brief period of faddishness until people found out that they are only small by 900lb. Duroc hog standards. If a strain of pig that stayed small, pink, and cute ( neotenic IOW) and reached a max size-weight equivalent to something like one of the smaller dog breeds, they’d sell wildly.
Eohippus. Yes, there are dwarf breeds of horse, but eohippus wasn’t much bigger than a housecat. If it could be recreated, folks would pay gigantic money to have one wandering the wilds of their condo.
Miniature dolphins. People already put insane amounts of money into keeping large saltwater aquaria full of delicate animals that require live food. Those ssame people would sell their souls for an 8" to 12" dolphin as the centerpiece of the whole enterprise.
Very small bears–the whole gamut, but about the size of a housecat (and domesticated, otherwise they would probably eat babies or somthing), looking as they do as cubs–fluffy, big eyes, those cute round ears. I would get one–mind you, as a little girl, I used to ask my parents for a grizzly bear instead of a pony.
Land based octopi (this would require some modification re:bones and support mechanisms)–all the legs, but you don’t have to keep them in water. Also good for freaking people out who have arachnophobia.
Tiny elephants–like in that Warner Brothers cartoon. You could have your own herd of toy elephants. Teach them tricks, have them parade tail to trunk across the living room, hear their darling trumpeting from anywhere in the house when they are out of peanuts.
Ostriches the size of parakeets.
Parakeets the size of ostriches, though they might destroy the world.
Home aquaria-sized great white sharks.
Sail-back housecats.
Winged monkeys, though it would be tough to have them actually able to fly.
Snakes with fur.
Pitbulls with alligator hides.
A living, breathing Ammut the Devourer, but let’s make him the size of a chihuahua.
Real Ba Birds made to order with the customer’s face. I’d want a couple.
On a related note, there is an Asian scientist that has gentically engineered glow in the dark goldfish. He used the DNA from a breed of jellyfish that glows in the dark. I don’t know if they are going to ever be released as pets though. A lot of people are afraid that they’ll eventually get into the wild and breed with normal goldfish (are there goldfish in the wild?) and eventually corrupt the fish population.
It was a few years ago that I read an article about this, but it seems pretty feasible. At the time, I was taking Biotechnology in high school and putting that same jellyfish DNA into E.coli to make it glow. If a bunch of high school kids can do it to bacteria, it seems like it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for a scientist with the proper equipment to make a goldfish glow, but I havn’t heard anything more about it since then, so it probably didn’t amount to anything.
If glowing goldfish ever do appear on the market, I want one of those. If not, then the miniature elephant sounds really cool too.
Little birdy shit in my eye, gee arn’t I glad that cows cann’t fly. I don’t think a flying horse would be a good idea.
On the other hand, a retarded cat (ie a cat that will always look/act as a kitten) would sell well. I wouldn’t buy one, but all those retards that buy cats then get rid of them because they grow up (imagine that an baby animal that you bought grew up who knew) would like them because they will be like kittens for their whole life.
Ditto for dogs.
I’m not sure about the ethics of creating a retarded animal but that is a hijack.
Miniature tigers would be awesome, as would toy dolphins. I’d buy both those. The furry snake freaks me out though. I’m getting chills just thinking about it.
Tea-cup kitties!
I always like that idea. They breed dogs like that, why not cats?
Also, slightly bigger breeds of house cats!
I always wanted a BIG cat, but tigers, lions, and such are too endangered, dangerous, etc.
If you just bred really big house cats that have been domesticated that would be awesome!
[getting over excited]
OOooo mini elephants, tigers, lions and dolphins.
Unicorns and Pegasuses (Pegasi?) …
and, and, and, cats as big as horses so you can ride around on them
and real actual Sea Monkeys that do wear crowns and live in little underwater castles …
and, and, and, and, and, Banthas!
and Taun tauns, and Ewoks!!!
[/getting over excited]
A dachshund with really long legs. (I know, I know).
A species of bat designed to live with humans. You’d call one, and it would come and hang from your finger.
A species of either primate or rodent modifed to have gray skin, bony crests, and small ornamental wings, and to enjoy perching at the eged of shelves and such.
