Bringing Back Animals from Extinction

[@Sinuev1]

Before re-introducing Carrier Pidgeons to North America and Dodo's to Mauritius, how about testing out the science a bit beforehand by trying to reintroduce a more recently extinct species to a more localized environment - such as the White British to London?

[@CapAnson12345]

Passenger Pigeons you mean. But yeah.

[@Andrew-ps6xe]

The Passenger Pigeon wasn't simply hunted to extinction. It also suffered from habitat loss along its migration routes. The habitat is a bigger roadblock than the animals themselves.

[@carpediem3391]

Good luck man

[@vincentberkhout3713]

👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

[@USAEast]

🤣"such as the White British to London?" Yes! Funny not funny. White people populations everywhere will die out, then who will be the inventors, the builders, the repairmen. Good luck with turning it all over to Haitians and Muslims. Not saying dark skinned people CAN'T get there, but overall, they have not shown that they are driven by the curiosity required to move humans forward. I won't be here, neither will anyone reading this, so they'll be on their own to carry man on. The Haitians will war with Muslims, and it will be game over for humans.

[@logangrimnar3800]

The ethics gap between cloning mammoths and creating super viruses under minimum oversight within the confines of major population centers is beyond measure. Scientists: "Oh the catastrophe of introducing a hairy elephant to wildlife preserves is indescribable it would mean the end of humanity as a species!!" Those same Scientists: "We created a type of airborne super ebola smallpox with a 100% mortality rate to test the hypothesis that it might make corn turn blue lol"

[@wrongthinker843]

You win the based award of the day.

[@DerAlleinTiger]

Honestly, that's a really fair point. When we start making super viruses like that the ethics of cloning extinct animals - particularly mammals - is kind of peanuts in comparison, isn't it? Personally, I still think we should keep to things that were around and went extinct from *modern* humans. Like the Tasmanian "tiger" and the dodo and such. Seeing a mammoth would be pretty cool, though.

[@Liberatingamericans]

It's the accidental creations I worry most about. The shit made without intention while trying to make pest control cloans or crops or disease control genes.

[@observasaurusrex2099]

We shouldn't revive any animal that we are not 120% confident of being able to re-extinct. The bigger the animal, the easier it is to eliminate them all.

[@GruntoSkunko]

There is no "ethics gap" because "ethics" are literally just made up bullshit with no basis in reality that morons babble about to sound smart or important.

[@jonathanthomas7228]

> Passenger pigeon dies in Cincinnati Zoo > Harambe dies in Cincinnati Zoo I smell a conspiracy, fellas...

[@iangalloway8917]

Don’t forget the last Carolina Parakeet died there also.

[@BigJFindAWay]

On the other hand the Cincinnati zoo was instrumental in saving the New Guinea singing dog.

[@InquisitorJack]

Bethesda Naval Hospital is where Senator McCarthy and Secretary Forrestal died.

[@MrWatchowtnow]

Nah , they just evolved into becoming invisible. I always get shit on by invisible pigeons

[@MrWatchowtnow]

​@@InquisitorJackMcCarthy was right.

[@Eversca]

>Thylacine is hunted to extinction for government bounty within living memory Karl: "Survival of the fittest" >Dinosaurs go extinct 65 million years ago, and the environment has changes so much that they could no longer survive Karl: "poor baby! 😭"

[@atomicmillenial9728]

In all fairness the Thylacine would've likely died out "naturally" in the late 1980s or early 1990s without an intensive conservation effort. They were a small, inbred remnant population that suffered from the same disease that's decimated the Tasmanian Devil population. It's worth pointing out that they were widespread on the Australian mainland until around 5,000 years ago.

[@Eversca]

@atomicmillenial9728 pressing x to doubt. For starters, the devils are doing fine now. Supposedly evidence shows that they have suffered the tumor issue before and recovered from it. It's likely a cyclical illness. And a population doesn't have to be enormous to be healthy. Plenty animals occupy quite small niches and thrive just fine. It wouldn't take us very long to hunt wedge tailed Eagles to extinction, but that doesn't mean they are about to die out.

[@87stevan]

Yea, it's easier just to call Carl a muppet.

[@bitfreakazoid]

What the hell are you whining about?

[@napoleonfeanor]

The tasmanian tiger may still have a tiny population. Carl doesn't seem to want to understand the difference between natural extinction and intentional one.

[@matthewkrulitski8788]

Carl is an overgrown hobbit who thinks he’s an intellectual.

[@LucyKelly-of6cu]

He is a callous a rs whole! He is a psychopath, in my opinion. He may be able to be charming, but he is selfish. He is only nice or helpful in ways that benefit him.

[@screwstatists7324]

It's part of the routine you absolute brick

[@act.13.41]

Here in Louisiana, we farm alligators for the hides and meat. We almost hunted them to extinction, but now they are very easily found in the wild. When I was a child, deer were very rare, but now there are so many as to be a nuisance. We call them rats on stilts.

[@mikesecondname]

They do taste really good though. I’ve never tasted a kind of deer that I didn’t love. I’d trade beef for venison any day of the week.

[@act.13.41]

@@mikesecondname No doubt. 😀

[@nothanks3236]

@@mikesecondname Gator meat is pretty damn good too, the tail at least...

[@lordbogus1985]

Do alligators even taste good?

[@act.13.41]

@@lordbogus1985 Yes. If they didn't, we wouldn't eat them. 😀

[@OrphanJerky]

The term you’re looking for is “charismatic megafauna”

[@mobbs6426]

YES. That should be the distinction. So long as people are made aware that we're megafauna, so people don't just think its all Mammoths and Ground Sloths.

[@LethallyReptarded]

That's what me missus calls me knob

[@LethallyReptarded]

I hope she means it in a good way

[@waterloo32594]

The passenger pigeon was vital for the American forests. With their extinction, and the lack of their guano, many important tree species have struggled. It’s why New England falls/autumns are less colorful.

[@spracketskooch]

I can immediately tell that Josh is the only person with experience in any type of wilderness. Carl is talking about hunting like a modern teenage boy talks about war. I'm going to need to see you successfully hunt or trap a rabbit before you're allowed near the spears. I can just tell that someone is getting impaled one way or the other.

[@matthewkrulitski8788]

Carl wants the Victorian countryside back and damn the consequences.

[@BobbieBalldo]

Carl outta his element here

[@87stevan]

Carl doesn't have an element. He's cringe at everything he says.

[@TheSimonpearse]

⁠yes he’s awkward and irritatingly smug. I usually skip episodes when he’s in

[@SebaztienHawke-ci5hm]

He is more “Carlish” now than a few years ago 😂

[@knightspartan7201]

​@@TheSimonpearseChill out, he's just having a bit of fun. He'll admit if he's wrong, but this isn't a very important topic to him so he's just challenging the other hosts to gain a bit more insight.

[@mrbigglezworth42]

Curiousity: number one killer of cats and scientists.

[@gottesurteil3201]

Good thing there are no scientist cats. Cat scientists however...

[@davfree9732]

Until we find a cure for death we can't get to the end of the saying... Curiosity killed the cat, but Satisfaction brought it back. The first part is a warning against looking into something that is dangerous... the second part suggests what that thing is, might be worth the danger.

[@asaenvolk]

@@gottesurteil3201 not until we uplift cats, and then Scientist becomes the number one most popular job for uplifted cats.

[@John_1-1_in_Japanese]

@@gottesurteil3201 Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Elon Musk has promised multiple times he'll look into making catgirls real.

[@bombvoyage5686]

The Tasmanian Tiger or Marsupial Wolf was found to not have been the one hunting the sheep, as I believe they figured out that it was actually the canines that humans brought and then became feral

[@highlordxeleth]

Don't forget the Dingoes. And wild dogs mate with them, makes for a much bigger issue. Dingoes were almost hunted to extinction precisely because they went after the sheep and cattle. Also yes, recent studies on the jaws of Thylacines makes the Dingo/wild dog combo the likely culprit.

[@muhdiversity7409]

The loss of the American Screw Worm (Bot Flies) will be a loss to no one. When I found out there was a US biological wall to stop the nasty things in Panama I decide that maybe I don't need to retire to South America.

[@rickjones641]

To some extent, all of evolution and the selection pressures that drive it come from the various 'arms races' between living things and the other living things that ruthlessly exploit them to survive. That's why everything alive requires some severe opposition to thrive. Without it, eventually, everything goes too far and ultimately dies anyway. Politics is likely no different.

[@TheGhostFart]

yeah absolutely no one should be sad if they were to go extinct

[@lordbogus1985]

Isnt that the fly which lays an egg inside of you?? There once was a man who had this happen, it bit him behind the ear and as the larve began to te develop he could actually hear it earting away behind its ear

[@muhdiversity7409]

@@lordbogus1985 Yep, that's the one. I don't know whether you remember a TV series called "River Monsters?" The presenter stumbled upon a village in the Amazon while he was out looking for his giant fish. In the village was an old lady that was on her last legs from some of the little monsters in her head/brain. Horrifying.

[@BushAndFence]

1:25 Forget which park in the USA but they reintroduced wolves after they had been missing from the park for decades and they found that they were extremely beneficial. As the herbivores (elk, deer, etc.) were actually becoming overpopulated which meant areas of the park were getting over grazed. Most importantly riparian areas (edges of rivers and creeks) which meant there was increased erosion. Also just a general loss of plant species. All these problems were solved by the reintroduction of the wolves.

[@missyc7852]

Yellowstone

[@The_Crimson_Fucker]

Yellowstone and the government are responsible for killing all the wolves before - they were afraid they were going to kill all the deer and scare the tourists away. The problem still isn't solved, there less than 200 wolves in the entire park. It's not a rare problem, governments across the world keep trying to do "environmental conservation" which more often than not causes more damage than not doing anything. Another great example for how the government is screwing the environment look at what the root cause behind California's recurring wildfires is - it's a dispute between the Federal and State governments over whose responsibility it is to actually manage all the federal land there. Look at a map of all the wildfires and wildfire danger areas in Cali then look at a map of all the Federally owned land there.

[@60sSam]

Yeah it was great...except for the part where they didn't _stay_ in Yellowstone.

[@missyc7852]

@@60sSam hasn't there only been 1 that's left? Besides any wolf that leaves is legally allowed to be shot I thought, since they are no longer protected?

[@BushAndFence]

@@60sSam didn’t that I learned this years ago.

[@BertPreast]

There's a splendid old loony in Siberia trying to use large ungulates to change the tundra back into grassland with the ultimate objective of making a suitable home for the reintroduction of mammoths. Pleistocene Park, I think it's called. There are some good vids online about him, basically he scams the greenies for funds but you can tell all he really wants is huge herds of mammoths roaming the plains. More power to his elbow!

[@croatianwarmaster7872]

Aurochs, wisent and moose/elk are so awesome. These great plant eaters in Europe. I love that in Croatia we have still many bears, wolves and lynxes. These great predators, only no wolverines here.

[@rickjones641]

You've missed the epigenetic component of reintroductions. Often, an ecological analogue species (one that occupies the same ecological niche in a biosphere) will end up looking and behaving just like the extinct or extirpated animal that it's replacing. They did it with extirpated North American peregrine falcons using Eurasian founder stock -- within ten generations many were identical to the original North American subspecies. They're trying it with extinct Indian Ocean island tortoises using species' from other islands, because there are native plants that evolved need their seeds to pass through the gizzard of a tortoise to rough the pith and be able to germinate, back when tortoises were the only grazers and there were no mammals at all on the islands. They're a keystone in the individual endemic ecologies of the islands. That will take hundreds of years, given tortoise lifetimes. There are loads of examples. I used to work for a conservation NGO that focusses specifically on islands, and they've been doing this stuff since the 1950's, without any gene editing. If you are interested look up Carl Jones and the Mauritius kestrel, or pink pigeon.

[@GodwynDi]

Very interesting.

[@Straga_Severa_]

There is a big difference between "this animal was not fit for survival, so it died out" and "we literally killed every one of tasmanian wolves, therefore they are not fit for survival". I can understand not wanting to revive the first ones, but the second ones?...

[@bigdiccmarty9335]

Eeh, if they didnt want to go exinct, they should have evolved a gun, like we did

[@hazchemel]

Yeah, that's a worthwhile distinction.

[@GruntoSkunko]

"There is a big difference between "this animal was not fit for survival, so it died out" and "we literally killed every one of tasmanian wolves, therefore they are not fit for survival". ......................How? How is there a difference? Humans are just another type of animal, and successful species of animal, as a rule, cause other species that compete for the same resources to go extinct or be displaced. If we cause a species to go extinct, that species was not fit for survival. It's pure Darwinism.

[@avereth]

Yeah, one had bounties per adult or joey exterminated, the other didn't.

[@GruntoSkunko]

@@Straga_Severa_ There isn't actually a big difference. Drawing a difference between human activity causing a species to go extinct and any other phenomenon on Earth causing a species to go extinct is completely arbitrary. We are just another species of ape.

[@Mrs.Grave5433]

Tasmanian tigers should be brought back. Amazing animals. Truly worthy of a western return.

[@thetruth45678]

Five million Australian dollery-doos? That's, like, four whole bucks!

[@gavinbissell8847]

That's an outrage, I'm taking this all the way to the prime minister...ANDYYYYY!

[@MykeLewisMusic]

@@gavinbissell8847 I can hear this comment section in my head, hahahahahahahaha

[@gergc4871]

Beets, Bears, Battlestar Galactica.

[@SouthernGothicYT]

18:43 yeah no not all farm animals can make it in the wild. My chickens were secured inside fences and netting because otherwise they'd all get picked off in under a week. Even then, snakes got their eggs occasionally

[@liarwithagun]

yeah, chicken come from Asia and at this point are nothing like the wild version in a few ways

[@andywatts8654]

I think of panda bears are going to restrict their diet so heavily and are reluctant to breed then eventually we might have to let them go

[@FerdinandFake]

Just like western Civilization

[@dylandockery8379]

Apparently pandas in the wild breed just find they just don't do well in captivity. Their big issue is loss of habitat by the Chinese.

[@jared16795]

​@dylandockery8379 this. They do just fine I the wild. Heck, when the quarantines happened, they even bred quite a lot in captivity, so I think they just don't like people watching them.

[@purpledevilr7463]

Actually most of it is them refusing in captivity and us taking out their habitat.

[@DarthRevan2.0117]

@@FerdinandFake no genocide warmonger.

[@erichtomanek4739]

What Josh forgot to say about that US company that received 5 million for the Thylacine, is that they also receive funding from the CIA...

[@hayleylongster4698]

Ofc they do. Some literal Jurassic World weapons program shizz is probably going on behind heavily locked doors.

[@OllyO-gt8pg]

stellios looking dapper

[@a-aron391]

Yes, the salt and pepper stubble really suits him

[@Blerwerler]

Tasmanian Tigers looking like Hollywood Zoomer actresses with their perpetually distancing eyeballs.

[@HenryLeslieGraham]

based

[@celtofcanaanesurix2245]

hate to disappoint you Carl, but the Wooly Mammoth is actually smaller than African Elephants on average, if you want the biggest Elephants, support the search for more remains of Palaeoloxodon Namadicus, which contends with the Indricotheres as the biggest land mammals that have ever lived

[@SebaztienHawke-ci5hm]

Yes, the mummified remains you can see pictures show them amusingly small. A little “unimpressive” really. The Ice Age movies have been lying to us.

[@jackstretch-jones1430]

ReWilding could be a force for good, 1 million half starved wolves in could be added to a fenced off area just inside the M25, NetZero let out of the conservation area.

[@klawockkidd3426]

I think they should bring back the Scottish Haggis. I'm talking about the animal, not the dish.

[@Setanta1913]

Protect the Red Squirrels.

[@danielsankey8786]

Ok bigot

[@anthonnygeoffrey7071]

I miss Callum

[@donavinneptune520]

What happened to Callum?

[@anthonnygeoffrey7071]

@@donavinneptune520 oh nothing happened to him, I miss having him on the podcast is what i meant. His traveling chanell is awesome from what i've seen though !

[@hayleylongster4698]

Me too :(

[@MolonyProductions]

I still watch the lotus eaters but I'm not a fan of his travel channel. He was great on this show though.

[@anthonnygeoffrey7071]

@@MolonyProductions to each his own ! now have a nice day sir (or madam)

[@bowiedoctor9156]

Dinosaurs didn't go extinct - you eat them, they're called chickens.

[@gottesurteil3201]

I'm gonna remember "Anglo-Autism."

[@reactiondavant-garde3391]

I think humans are just too OP to use pure darwinian logic here. Humans can drive anything to extinsion if we really want to, at this point we are demigods among animals and I doN't want to be a cruel lord. I think we should be magnimonous towards other beings, especially when they are not even doing anything wrong. Like dodos or pigeons. Nobless Obliage.

[@TheGhostFart]

yeah we've driven lots of species to extinction because they did something they were hardwired to do.

[@Sefert79]

After being expelled from the Garden, now we can create our own.

[@reactiondavant-garde3391]

@@Sefert79 We called for to be steward of the earth so more or less yes. We should be good gardeners.

[@loolfactorie]

8:25 Tasmanian Tigers were only found on Tasmania, and their jaws were not strong enough to kill sheep, nor were they used to hunting such large prey.

[@mycouch3718]

Maybe George would be happy if they bring back the dragon?

[@Hraefncin]

Please!

[@zachpulido5972]

Carolina Parakeet, Dodo, And Thylacine. Those are my current top three animals I’d want to see brought back.

[@anthonygreen7063]

'It's as dead as a dodo, used to be' doesn't really work as a figure of speech, though.

[@LS-xs7sg]

I think encouraging people to think about animal biodiversity can nudge them toward ethno nationalism as well

[@DragonFruitXVI]

19:03 He says to the Greek man without a hint of irony.

[@SpartanTrigger]

Greek here , made me laugh 😂

[@StrawberryNUKE]

I'm with Carl I want mammoths to come back Mammoth steak boys!

[@ALEXANDER1318]

We could just start breeding Elephants and eat them instead, though.

[@amarok5048]

"You like mammoth? Me like mammoth, wife like mammoth. Mammoth come at dark!" - Armstrong and Miller

[@John_1-1_in_Japanese]

There's absolutely a gap between preserving parasites from extinction and a mammal, bird, or reptile. If we could have any degree of certainty that the extermination of mosquitos wouldn't cause some butterfly effect (maybe test it on a large scale first) then I would be all for it. Pretty much any species larger than an insect I would love to have preserved in some way though, even if it's just on a specialty reserve. Also, we should definitely resurrect dinos; I want a pet raptor. Edit: Also I want to see settlements in the cold north of Eurasia & maybe America caring for herds of mammoths for food, that would be VERY cool. Let's bring back extinct animals, but also let's domesticate them. I'm kinda annoyed we haven't put more effort into that when the cause is a lot less exaggerated than de-extinction.

[@John_1-1_in_Japanese]

When I grow up, I want to be a mammoth herder

[@GirevikGee]

I highly recommend checking out the works of Allan Savory. He is turning back desert land to topsoil/grassland with herds of cattle. I am assuming the end goal is to have large, wild enclosures of roaming ruminant animals for the world’s population. Deserts used to be massive rainforests full of large animals, exciting stuff is happening!

[@erichtomanek4739]

Carl said that if an animal becomes extinct, well tough, survival of the fittest. Does that extend to the indigenous peoples of the UK? They are actively being replaced by others ...

[@matthewkrulitski8788]

‘Tis what happens when edgelords get old and fat.

[@jukeman9291]

Well, why not?

[@russianbot2630]

I don’t think that’s an argument against conservation, but rather an argument against using science to resurrect a dead species. These two things have very different moral connotations. Protecting the native English is a conservationist issue rather than a scientific resurrectionist one.

[@GruntoSkunko]

@@russianbot2630 "These two things have very different moral connotations. " No they don't. Morality doesn't mean anything. It's bullshit.

[@hayleylongster4698]

​@@russianbot2630Indeed. This. We're not actually extinct yet. YET.

[@jackiekjono]

I would love to bring back native American dog species. Some of them looked really cool. Also - turnspit dogs. The environmentalists would love them.

[@superionmaximus9900]

I think we need to bring back the American Camel. All Camels originated from an ancestor in America

[@mikesecondname]

Same with dogs, they started out as canidae in North America. Would camels even have an ecological niche to inhabit in the USA?

[@ReptilianLepton]

@@mikesecondname Their skeletons have been found everywhere from Honduras to Alaska and the Yukon, so in the past, sure. In modern times? Even releasing a single herd onto the high plains would be controversial.

[@tookey4329]

Bioengineering is quite interesting I’d like to see the Pliocene park in Siberia succeed in turning the Tundra back into semi productive Steppe and the reintroduction of the mammoth and aurochs would fix so many issues in Greater Eurasia lacking any major herbivores to manage environments for us as we humans had to artificially steward forests to prosperity after their extinction

[@losernerd9291]

They should bring back the Great Auk

[@FlyingTiger-sm5zq]

Josh should have been humoured more. Carl completely missed they point.

[@honkhonk3335]

Carl really showing he's a brainlet in this one.

[@blitzkid7963]

At 60 years old i find it difficult to find new music that resonates with me but how i missed this group back in the early naughties escapes me literally still i'm here now and that's all that matters 😎

[@TheDrizzle404]

Don't care about the ethics, I want a pet Utahraptor.

[@OiiRobbi3x]

Good god isnt carl getting old.

[@mzanziman9150]

the guy in the purple tie has no feelings, all creatures are alive, he has no respect, he is willing to make creatures extinct for any reason

[@skeetercreek6455]

Passenger pigeons were also one of the main animals that planted oaks and redwoods carring them from the east to the west coast of the u.s.

[@yvonnelas2969]

People seem to think a clone of themselves is also them. In reality it would be as separate as an identical twin.

[@thedirectorschair1054]

To weigh in about the argument over survival and extinction. Animals are split into two types. Generalists and Specialists. Specialists occupy an environmental niche. Generalists can survive across many niches. The benefit of being a specialist is that you can strongly adapt to the environment in terms of turning energy into life. The species therefore becomes strong. However once you are closely adapted to the environment, if the environment suddenly changes, you go extinct because you cannot adapt fast enough. The benefit of being a generalist is that you can survive across many environments because you have multiple ways of turning energy into food, usually because you eat anything you find. However it means you are always in conflict with the dominant species because you tend to be scavengers. However, if a specialist goes extinct, it is usually a generalist who will evolve to take their place. If specialist African lions go extinct, generalist hyenas will take their place, becoming bigger and stronger because they will be forced to actively hunt the herds as opposed to stealing food from the lions. The extinction/evolution balance axis actually allows life to survive complete catastrophe because some species will always be ready to replace those which have become stagnant. As Ian Malcolm says - Life finds a way. It ensures that life can always adapt to a changing planet. It's a very, very clever mechanic. Therefore evolution and extinction are two sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the other and they fuel each other. I disagree with Carl when he says it is survival of the fittest. Well even humans have already passed from generalist to specialist, we survived the last glaciation with little more than sharp rocks, fur and fire on a stick, but if the next glaciation happened tomorrow, 99% of us would die without central heating. We couldn't adapt fast enough. All animals are fit for their environment but the more specialised an animal, the less likely it is to be able to adapt to change, so it's nothing to do with survival of the fittest. In fact the fitter something is for its environment, the more vulnerable it is to going extinct from a minor change to that environment. It is survival of the adaptable and the most adaptable are the scavengers. And I disagree with Josh when he says we have a duty to protect animals that we kill. No, we are a naturally evolved change element, part of the natural world and extinction actually fuels the progress of life itself, forcing nature to take new and creative ways to conquer the environmental challenges. Evolution occurs because extinction opens up free paths. Therefore, by protecting old species and keeping those paths forever closed, we imperil the evolution of future species that will be needed to adapt to the environmental challenges of the future. Our job as humans is to ensure that life escapes Earth and eventually the solar system before the sun dies and immolates all known life in the universe and we need to do that before the successful generalist scavengers that live under us - rats, cockroaches, pigeons and seagulls, end up replacing us in our own urban niches..

[@tbvaliant]

Pigeons don't poop while flying, only when they land. If their numbers were so large they most likely had a significant impact on plants and insect populations and I would imagine their extinction is probably a fairly significant factor in diminished soil quality as well

[@richbattaglia5350]

“But there’s billions of them.” Thank you for saying that. Also blessed video.

[@pbh81]

But would the animals be copyright? I like to see the giant birds of New Zealand brought back

[@OliverCampbell-f6x]

I’m glad you’ve started naming yourselves at the beginning… it makes it easier to know who you are

[@avereth]

I think this is an important field since we're basically guaranteed to cause the extinction of virtually every species that isn't commercially viable or able to subsist on trash. Humanity ultimately is run by people who do not care, all habitat will get paved or mowed over. The majority of species will only be able to exist at the whims of an increasingly resource scarce humanity and not losing their genomes will be integral for better men to eventually reverse the mass extinction coming. The loss of the thylacine is especially egregious for how intentional it was, especially given the advance of mankind and the dingo they brought with them already resulted in their extinction on the Australian mainland where they appeared on cave paintings. Tasmania was their only habitat left and they were eradicated.

[@pczYT]

Talking about tasting, anomalocaris always make my mouth water... Can you imagine a 3 ft long lobster?

[@IvayloIvanov-z8r]

Saber-tooth tigers make modern tigers look like tabby cats. BUT .. saber-tooth kittens sounds like a good idea.

[@corvus_armatura7595]

But the teeth tho.

[@josephfisher426]

At least some of them. Seems that we do a lot of projection based on few known examples, though... It's hard to believe that most species of cats died out naturally in areas with low human populations. They're the ultimate alpha predators. The prey may change, but it is never immune to ending up in the cat...

[@crassuscorax7731]

I can see it now - It's 30 years later, and playing Lazarus with pigeons has brought society to ruin. Josh kneels, surrounded by the corpses of the human x red squirrel alliance. He accepts his fate and extends his arms, as thousands of passenger pigeons blot out the sun

[@loocmay]

Animals love hierarchy 💚

[@alexb7799]

Carl is an edgy 13-year-old when it comes to nature. If we can drone strike a species to death then it lost evolution.

[@matthewkrulitski8788]

He is so in love with the image of the tame “nature” of Merrie Englande that he doesn’t recognize it as the green desert it is.

[@GruntoSkunko]

That's true, though. Humans are the ultimate lifeform, so far.

[@FF-po2xi]

Ugh I hate pedantic rationalism. Team Josh

[@jamesgpevans9421]

I'm for bringing back Apex Predators into Britain such as wolves, bears and some big cats. Not sure farmers would agree with me mind😂😂

[@thomasmolloy5447]

For decades I've been saying that wooly mammoths were probably absolutely delicious. Might be why they are extinct.

[@anthonygreen7063]

We all have Neanderthal DNA (in Europe, anyway). I'd like to bring them back.

[@garrettharriman6333]

We *should* start cloning herbivorous dinosaurs. Look at something like a titanosaur and just think about all the dog food you could make out of just one.

[@GodwynDi]

"One of the few animals to go exrinct twice." Had me laughing.

[@aeronsongerson2416]

Extinct the mosquitoes and bring back giant dragonflies.

[@Starfighter-nk4mo]

Passenger pigeons would be amazing to have around again.

[@kitty5104]

What about the European lions that the Roman's whipped out? Bring those back

[@hamesparde9888]

I don't think there's anything wrong with brining back cool animals.

[@JadeRunner]

I'm glad Josh has brought this up. The way Carl - and a lot of Conservatives - act like ecosystems aren't a thing and that there isn't a knock-on effect of any species going extinct gets quite grating after a while...

[@Ben-c3u5u]

Mammoths were smaller than African elephants are.

[@Deplorable_Me_UK]

Bullshit

[@badgamemaster]

"Totally safe. We promise."

[@eternalpadawan1]

Pigeons can not poo when in flight. Just a little factoid that would allow you to stand under a billion flock and be safe lol

[@WaryofExtremes]

The human genome was sequenced in 2001, not just recently

[@FALLINGJIGSAW]

Mammoth ribs are going to be epic

[@napoleonfeanor]

Dinosaurs are still alive. Birds are dinosaurs. What Carl mentioned is called convergent evolution and can be crazy sometimes

[@harbl99]

That explains the utterly berserk look in the eyes that all chickens have. "I'm a direct descendent of terrifying apex predators. Fear me human! Oooh, corn."

[@platypups]

​@@harbl99 the best bit is taming them by exploiting the egg squat and forcing them into cuddles

[@napoleonfeanor]

@harbl99 Chickens? You should see geese! I saw some yesterday, but fortunately, they were far above me flying in formation. I also got bitten by a swan as a child. And let's not even start with cassowaries, the Australian emu war, and prehistoric ones like the terror birds, etc. I'd rather encounter the very small types of raptor (they all had feathers, and some small ones could probably glide. But never mind, I'm just geeking out.

[@GirevikGee]

As the human digestive system hasn’t moved past the large ruminant muscle meat at its associated fat intake (mainly from mega fauna such as the mammoth) I can completely agree with Josh’s assessment in this video!

[@bowiedoctor9156]

Let's bring back Neanderthals and Denisovans!

[@anthonygreen7063]

Yes, my thoughts too, though I couldn't remember the word 'Denisovans.' Asians have Denisovan DNA, and we Europeans have Neanderthal, so that's a starting point. Africans are just Africans. Humanity in its purest form. Make of that what you will.

[@bowiedoctor9156]

@@anthonygreen7063 That's not correct. Sub Saharan Homo sapiens interbred with Homo erectus, so their modern gene pool contains some 2-5% erectus dna. There are no 'pure' humans.

[@Andrew-ps6xe]

The Passenger Pigeon wasn't simply a victim of over-hunting. A big obstacle to bringing them back now is the loss of forest habitat.

[@originalSPECTER]

I have a feeling that bringing back flocks of pidgins that blot out the sun will not be good for aircraft. I’ll take flight over a single species of bird.

[@kozakos1999]

But would that not be good for global warming? /s

[@Sinuev1]

Ian Malcom wasn't against bringing back Dodos or other "recently" extinct animals like the California Condor. He was specifically talking about animals that had been extinct for tens of millions of years and which no longer had a place carved out in the ecological niche of the modern day environment. Honestly, I'm all for bringing back wolves to the English countryside. I seem to recall Carl talking about big cats loose in the country, and a good way to get rid of big cats is to reintroduce big dogs.

[@reeman2.0]

Then we'll have to introduce a bigger dog to take out the wolves. Then bears to take out the bigger dogs. Then genetically engineered superviruses. Then we all die. Simple as.

[@TheBcoolGuy]

or a rifle

[@gottesurteil3201]

If anything bring them back to give the Irish wolfhound something to do.

[@mikesecondname]

When I’m allowed to open carry a gun, I’ll be all for wolves in the English countryside. Until then, no thanks.

[@GruntoSkunko]

Who gives a shit what a fake person thought?" "He was specifically talking about animals that had been extinct for tens of millions of years and which no longer had a place carved out in the ecological niche of the modern day environment." They'll carve a niche themselves.

[@Ceiling_Gato]

Thylacine might still be around in remote areas of Papua New Guinea, there has been lot of sightings and bone findings that were dated to be fairly recent

[@torg2126]

The great thing about dextincting Passenger Pigeons is that they apparently where delicious. Also they had important ecological niches, but let's focus on the pigeon pie. As far as mammoths are concerned, they would also have an excellent range in Alaska and Canada, so the Russians won't be the only people to host mammoth safaris. And moose will have computation for "most dickish megafauna in North America," because they don't really have any other megafauna to compte with here.

[@filioque4509]

What if Mini-Carl turned out to be woke?

[@SlavicChautauquan]

I was wondering whether I'd catch anyone asking the other side of the question--Should we *exterminate* species which we have created or introduced into a region? And so as not to be a complete turd about it, I'll give an example. In Nevada, wild horses have been around for a few hundred years. Back in the 50s, there was a big movement to protect them. They're now considered a treasure for the state by many, a sign of wild and natural beauty. However, that's just one side of the coin. The ranchers tend to have a different name for wild horses.... "Range Maggots". Hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts view them as scourges upon the land, because a single horse will require ten times the range to feed as a single deer. They don't process the local grasses and shrubs the same way, and are therefore incredibly demanding. So we have two views of the horse which are dueling. Right now, Nevada taxpayers fork out millions to feed, house, and vaccinate horses over the winter months. (For me personally, this begs the question of whether these are even "wild" anymore). We fight to preserve an invasive species, essentially. When Italy offered to pay us up to ten dollars a pound for horseflesh, the government turned them down, clutching pearls in a most emphatic fashion. Fortunately, the local natives (who couldn't really get into the casino business given.... Nevada....) decided to invoke their "ancestral rights" and have taken to the skies in helicopters with tranq rifles to hunt the horses, just as their ancestors intended. So we wind up with alliances between ranchers and natives against the establishment tourist industry. As a sillier example, chihuahuas and border collies are new species--but fully domesticated, and not part of a wild ecosystem, unless we get to the Chernobyl dogs. The important thing to consider with stewardship vs 'environmentalism' is twofold, in my mind. -We need to remember that this planet is not static. There is no idyllic Eden to return to, only a consideration of how we can fit as the stewardship of a planet of myriad lives. -We need to remember that stewardship is not a zero-sum game. If we simply bury our talent in the ground, we are unprofitable servants. Striving to make the best of what we have is part of living in the planet, not just trying to live in the pod and create some sort of weird wildlife sanctuary, but for civilization. We are part of the planet, stop treating us like aliens on our own home.

[@MrKoobuh]

Wild horses are an important reminder for people who think extinct animals can just be re-introduced to a biome with only positive effects. Horses and camels evolved in North America, subsequently migrating to asia and going extinct in their origin range. When they were subsequently reintroduced, horses in particular are extremely destructive to the new ecology, and as noted require management to avoid overpopulation and disease. Escaped camels wandered the west for some time, until apparently dying out in the early 20th century. Horses in particular would need a fast predator to check their numbers, such as the American Cheetah. You would basically need to recreate the entire food web to safely reintroduce one large animal.

[@hayleylongster4698]

I'm with Michael Crichton on this one. That dude is roiling in his grave. (Yes roiling not rolling. I like it better. I like the boiling hellish tomb implications).

[@HayzerX]

"Where one life ends, another begins." Nature likes to fill the voids and adapt. Meaning that, to reintroduce a species, you'd now need to eliminate another one or multiple. There's probably an analogue for humans, in eating spaghetti with a spoon.

[@Stevarooni]

There is no obligation to bring them back, but there are some fun and useful critters that could be restored.

[@dabbleabit]

Adding food into the food chain could have the effect of destroying the food chain you already have.

[@DaLordIsBack1]

Get those pigeons back asap and integrate them into the RAF!

[@seandelap8587]

Just preserve the species that are still around and leave everything be

[@searose6192]

2:03 Tapeworms are actually very important to human wellbeing. Tapewroms reduce inflamation throughout their host, and many inflammatory diseases in the modernized west are in part due to our elimination of tapeworms, allowing inflamation to skyrocket in our bodies and causing many chronic diseases.

[@caspice]

These animals would only look like the extinct animals and will not be the same as the original animals.

[@bashisobsolete.pythonismyn6321]

Q. "why don't you return?" A. "there's nothing to return to"

[@neurotiago]

Just because we can doesn't mean we should. But grilled Dodo sounds delicious..

[@andywatts8654]

I mean it’s not called a dont-don’t - let’s do it

[@lav25og83]

If we eat the eggs, all their eggs, we can drive it to extinction again!

[@algreen1]

Dodo & noodle stir fry, yesss boys

[@tiggerthecat1]

Imagine being brought back from extinction to find yourself on the food chain of the thing that made you extinct in the first place! And it’s now breeding you on an industrial scale for the sole purpose of killing and eating you. I’d prefer to be extinct!

[@gottesurteil3201]

Honey Sriracha glazed and fried.