Tag: extinct animals

Mr. Nature: The Last Thylacine REPRINT

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

From June 30, 2018

These video clips, taken at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania, preserve the memory of an animal that is now supposedly extinct–the thylacine, aka “Tasmanian tiger,” once upon a time the largest living marsupial carnivore. The last one died at the zoo in 1936.

Mr. Nature here, with an animal that I wish was still alive. And it may be. Over the years, hundreds, if not thousands, of people have claimed to have sighted living thylacines on the Australian mainland. Some of them back up their claims with videos, a few of which look quite convincing. So it’s possible there may be a few of them left, roaming the outback. The long, stiff tails, and the stripes along the back, are distinctive: no other animal has them.

Jack and Ellayne encountered a much larger version of a thylacine in Lintum Forest, carrying off, in its massive jaws, the front half of a knuckle-bear.

I don’t think God likes it when we kill off members of His creation.

But I also believe He’ll bring them back, someday, somewhere–if He hasn’t done it already, someplace where they’re safe from us.

Can Scientists Resurrect the Aurochs?

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Return of the Aurochs | Discover Magazine

Europe’s domestic cattle are descended from the aurochs, a wild animal that died out in 1627, in a Polish forest. For some decades now, scientists have been trying to bring the aurochs back to life via back-breeding. An particularly notorious attempt was made by zoologists in the the Third Reich, resulting in sort-of/kind-of pseudo-aurochs called “Heck Cattle.”

Well, at least we know what the aurochs looked like, because our ancestors painted its picture on the walls of caves. Julius Caesar and other ancient writers described the aurochs’ size, strength, and speed. But by 1627 there were only a few of them left. The local people tried to save them, but at last a winter came that took away the last of the mighty aurochs.

We also have aurochs skeletons.

Aurochs | extinct mammal | Britannica

So… We have skeletons, we have pictures drawn from life, written descriptions, and many domestic breeds of cattle with aurochs DNA in them. And there are still projects ongoing to breed cattle back to the aurochs.

Can this ever succeed? Will it usher in an age of restoring colossal prehistoric animals?

And just how badly do we want that?

The Giant Lemur

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

I’m sick of the news by now, I won’t write any more of it today or tomorrow. Instead, let’s hand off to Mr. Nature. ****

Jambo, Mr. Nature here–with the giant lemur of Madagascar, Megaladapis (and if you can pronounce that, go to the head of the class). We can call it “the koala lemur” because it was built like an oversized koala.

This is an animal that probably should still be with us. It only died out some 2,000 years ago–probably because of a combination of environmental stress (droughts and wildfires) and overhunting by newly-arrived humans. There are cryptozoologists who cling to the hope of discovering a live giant lemur somewhere in the island’s shrinking forests, but I’m afraid that’s wishful thinking.

If you’re into such things, take a good look at the jaw muscle attachment areas on the giant lemur’s skull: ideal for munching prodigious quantities of tough vegetation.

I find it hard to imagine an animal more harmless, more un-threatening, than the koala lemur. I grieve their extinction.

But God does have the whole universe at His disposal, it’s His, He created it, and who knows? Maybe he’s found a better place for these benign creatures. All we can do now is to marvel at what they must have been, not so very long ago.

No More Moa

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

I first read about the giant moa birds of New Zealand when I was seven or eight years old and had no idea where New Zealand was and couldn’t quite understand the word “extinct.” They’ve fascinated me ever since.

Hi, Mr. Nature here, along with 11-foot-tall, 600-pound flightless birds–a lot bigger than the ostrich. They lived all over New Zealand until people arrived a few centuries ago and wiped them out. By the time the first Europeans reached New Zealand, there were no more moas. It’s really hard for flightless birds to defend themselves against human hunters armed with spears and bows and arrows.

It’s sad enough that animals do go extinct. What wouldn’t I give to see a live Baluchitherium! But when people drive them extinct, that’s worse. I can’t believe it pleases God when we do that.

Some scientists think they can bring the moa back through cloning: there are remains that have yielded moa DNA. I’ll believe it when I see it. I would rather than they bring back decency–wouldn’t you?