Comments on: New Dodos

By: Aztec Raptor

Aztec Raptor — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:48:41 +0000

Hey YourPTR! and maslo63, it is may be possible to create a living Dodo look-alike. It can be made by first breeding flightless, small winged pigeons.then create and breed other Characteristics of a dodo in to pigeons.

By: YourPTR!

YourPTR! — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:05:01 +0000

I also think it would be cool if they made a living Dodo look-alike and that’s what I thought this post was about when I first read the title.

By: Aztec Raptor

Aztec Raptor — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:31:18 +0000

My mom said that she saw the bird on roof of the house. and flew very well but not as good because it was very fat. It the Size of a turkey, but it was gray, had no tail, and could almost fly. This was at night but my mom lived a farming town. She has seen guineafowl, chicken and all the birds seen in the area of Almoloya, Hidalgo. She only saw the body not the head of the bird. My aunt was there so she may have more information. But when I showed her a picture of the Dodo on June 11 2008, she told me about it. she said the body was the same shape.

By: maslo63

maslo63 — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:31:26 +0000

Aztec, while it would be nice I doubt you could re-create a dodo-like animal from a living bird species. It’s much more likely to be able to re-create a dinosaur-like animal because all birds are descended from dinosaurs and thus still carry the genetic material their ancestors had. Unless chickens or doves evolved from the dodo (they didn’t) it would not be possible.
As for what your mom saw, I wonder if perhaps it was a guineafowl?

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:47:13 +0000

Dogu4- I’m all for genetically recreating impoverished ecosystems, or supplementing a degraded ecosystem through the reintroduction of similar creatures that have left biological niches unfilled. It’s a very fascinating topic of discussion for me.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:30:34 +0000

Ranatemporaria: good points, though I think you can see where those examples you mentioned hadn’t adapted to what were isolated and essentially predator-free ecosystems where the birds essentially functioned as grazing/browsing animals in keystone positions that we typically associate with ruminants. Additionally, if we’re just talking about the impacts of human contact, one could also mention the moas of New Zealand, the “elephand bird” of Madagascar, and if we consider the oceanic environments we could include the giant auks of the North Atlantic and Stellers Giant cormorants of the Aleutians..and the latest nonminees: California’s Giant Seaduck and what appears to be a similar species on the Hawaiian islands…so, when I refer to civilization I don’t simply mean to implicate Europeans or even modern civilizations or cultures.
My point is not that people are so bad but that we could justify attempts to recreate or reconstruct effectively impoverished ecosystems using modern genetically engineered surrogates to something approaching their fully productive complexity using modern techniques, since its degenerate state was caused by human actions which by modern standards would all but constitute criminal negligence.
Cheers.

By: Ranatemporaria

Ranatemporaria — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:33:36 +0000

dogu4,
How about Emu, Ostrich, Rhea, Cassowary (ok not a great example)? Animals from larger continents as a rule are ecologically more resilient that small island species and as such can tolerate certain pressures better such as that of invasive species including or also man
If I am right the preserved remains of the bird are also in threat of extinction! Very few good examples still exist making any significant DNA extraction more difficult

Interestingly I have at home a plaster cast of the head of an example which I believe is held at held at the Natural History Museum London!

By: Aztec Raptor

Aztec Raptor — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:46:34 +0000

My mom said that in Mexico, that she saw a bird that looked like a Dodo, but was gray and could almost fly. It went on roof of the house. and flew very well but not as good because it was very fat.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:05:06 +0000

cryptidsrus- While I agree that in some areas we have made progress in undoing some of the damage we have done, it also has to be remembered that in cases such as this, the threat to native animals and ecologies is not always due to intentional human destruction or active extermination. One of the big threats facing the dodo, for example, was not just human hunting (the meat was purportedly not even very good), but rather the introduction of animals such as dogs, cats, and even pigs and a type of macaque. The dogs and cats actively preyed upon them, and the pigs and macaques ate the dodo’s eggs.

Very often, invasive species are introduced to a new habitat by accident, as pets, sometimes even with the intention of HELPING the ecosystem. These invasive species can cause great destruction and even extinctions without us always being fully aware of the consequences the introduced plants or animals would have.

While it is true we understand more about the interaction of life on this planet than we once did, in some cases we don’t know much more about how an ecology will react to a given invasive species than we did 300 years ago. Ecology is a very complex thing. It can be often very difficult to ascertain the exact effects a non-indigenous plant or animal will have on local flora and fauna or in what way the ecology will shift or react to these new factors.

We live in a world where planes, ships, and other forms of travel are more or less making it possible for any species to show up anywhere, essentially blurring the lines between habitats that have been separated and evolved in their own unique ways and sort of creating one super continent. I think that one of the main problems facing these types of species is not necessarily human maliciousness, but rather just carelessness and a lack of understanding of what the effects of such shuffling of species to different areas can have.

By: red_pill_junkie

red_pill_junkie — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:37:44 +0000

Thanks for the extra input about the dodo’s coloation, Loren