Comments on: Going Dodo Over Tassie Tiger Doodoo and Dodo Bones

By: Tengu

Tengu — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:25:09 +0000

Speaking of cloning possibilities, why not the Garefowl? plenty of remains, surviving habitat and good to eat.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 02:20:56 +0000

Right Turk, I forgot, no mammals except bats. Anyway, it is an ecosystem that was totally unprepared for the ground dwelling species of mammals that were introduced by settlers. It is a good example of introduced species wreaking havoc on a native ecosystem.

By: turk

turk — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:14:18 +0000

Yes, New Zealand is very interesting from an evolutionary standpoint. Since there weren’t any small rodents (other than bats), insects evolved into much larger forms to fill this evolutionary niche. Unfortunately, due to the influx of rodents, cats and other species brought over with men that prey on the weta, as well as habitat destruction, many species of wetas are facing extinction.

By: shumway10973

shumway10973 — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:59:30 +0000

I read in Popular Science, Feb. 2006 issue I believe, that scientists are attempting to clone these 2 animals. The only problem they are having is that the last remains to be found are so old that there is definite degradation of the dna, so gaps have to be filled (sound familiar?). The Dodo is one animal that I do not believe survived the human onslaught. All known reports said that they were without fear of humans, that is the main reason they are extinct, easy food.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:20:53 +0000

New Zealand has a very interesting evolutionary history. The animals of New Zealand evolved for millions of years without any mammals among them until settlers introduced them. This was an ecosystem that had developed totally without mammals suddenly faced with a completely alien type of animal. The dodo is a tragic example of how introduced species can overwhelm native species that have developed no defenses against them.

I do disagree a bit with the assertion that introduced animals were the sole culprits, though. In my opinion, humans most certainly had a hand to some extent in the dodo’s extinction. There are accounts of how the native fauna were so fearless of humans, that settlers were able to literally knock some birds right off the branches with sticks. The dodo was probably not exempt from this sort of treatment. It wasn’t only the white settlers either. From what i understand, the early Polynesian settlers of the islands did some damage to the native species as well.

By: cmgrace

cmgrace — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 19:15:57 +0000

It is sad how mankind can force the extinction of so many creatures. I hope we have learned to protect our very precious wildlife and realize that without them(or the habitats they live in) we would have a very hard time existing ourselves.

On the thylacine, it would be great to get some good news on the scat. We still have a lot to learn when it comes to cryptids.

By: turk

turk — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 05:03:19 +0000

Interesting news on the thylacine. Of course, the best that can be hoped for here is evidence that these animals existed into the ’60s, but that gets us closer. This is a cryptid I hold out a lot of hope for. Obviously, it would be possible since it is only recently extinct (in the ’30s), but the pics I’ve seen of supposed sightings have been indistinct or flat out hoaxes. There’s a lot of Australia fairly unpopulated, so fingers crossed. Maybe yowies have domesticated them as pets…