Extinct // Current TV

Italy's largest animal is on the brink of extinction

In the forests of Italy's Abruzzo National Park live one of the rarest creatures... more

Radical_Centrist
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Human race to be extinct in 200 years

Yikes, did you know the “Brain of Britain” Stephen Hawking has said that... more

ForgetTheBox
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Extinct Animals and Endangered Animals list

List of Extinct Species and Endangered Animals get the information about various... more

alexalbert123
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Global hunt begins for 'extinct' species of frogs

A frog hunt like no other is about to begin, as conservationists scour the world for... more

eva2
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1 year ago
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Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Floods, ADD OIL...

THE PLANET EARTH IS THE WATER PLANET and belongs to all living beings. The oceans... more

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2 years ago
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Aurochs Project Aims to Breed Extinct Ancient Cattle

The only place to see an aurochs in nature these days? A cave painting. The enormous wild cattle that once roamed the European plains have been extinct since 1627, when the last survivor died in a Polish nature reserve. But this could soon change thanks to the work of European preservationists who are hoping they can make the great beast walk again. If they succeed — through a combination of modern genetic expertise and old-fashioned breeding — it would be the first time an animal has been brought back from extinction and released into the wild.

The aurochs was a massive creature, standing more than six feet tall at the shoulder and weighing more than a ton. It had forward-facing horns and a white stripe running down its spine. The prehistoric animal was domesticated about 8,000 years ago, but some aurochs also remained in the wild until the end of the Middle Ages, when scientists believe they became extinct due to overhunting and loss of habitat.
(See the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2009.)

The hope for its resurrection now lies in its tame descendants, domesticated cattle. Here's how the process is expected to work: Scientists will first scour old aurochs bone and teeth fragments from museums in order to glean enough genetic material to be able to recreate its DNA. Researchers will then compare the DNA to that of modern European cattle to determine which breeds still carry the creature's genes and create a selective-breeding program to reverse thousands of years of evolution. If everything goes as planned, each passing generation will more closely resemble the ancient aurochs. "Everything will be put together in a genetic mosaic," says Donato Matassino, head of the Consortium for Experimental Biotechnology in Italy and one of the scientists involved in the project. "Once we have all the roads, we'll try to follow them back to Rome."

Stichting Taurus, the Dutch preservationist group leading the project, is hoping a reborn aurochs could help restore the European countryside to a more natural state. To that end, the group would eventually like to replace the domesticated cattle that currently graze in Holland's nature reserves with the recreated wild cattle. "The aurochs was part of an ecosystem," says Henri Kerkdijk, manager of the project. "If you want to recreate the flora of the ecosystem, you also have to recreate the fauna." The idea came to Kerkdijk during a trip to Africa, where he was struck by the abundance of giant herbivores, even in areas where people were living. "It just bothered me that we don't have that in Europe anymore," he says. His group has already introduced English Exmoor ponies — the closest living representatives of the wild horses painted alongside aurochs on cave walls — to the Netherlands' nature reserves. "You could also talk about recreating the giant deer," Kerkdijk says. "But there, we don't have a modern animal to work from."

READ MORE AT LINKThe only place to see an aurochs in nature these days? A cave painting. The enormous... more

HowdyDo
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Last Arizonan Wild Jaguar Euthanized

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Progresshiv
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2 years ago
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Koala Bears Are Almost Extinct Because They're Dying From Aids? WTF?

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Anthropologists confirm supervolcano in Sumatra almost made humans extinct

A massive volcanic eruption that occurred in the distant past killed off much of central India's forests and may have pushed humans to the brink of extinction, according to a new study that adds evidence to a controversial topic.

The Toba eruption, which took place on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia about 73,000 years ago, released an estimated 800 cubic kilometers of ash into the atmosphere that blanketed the skies and blocked out sunlight for six years. In the aftermath, global temperatures dropped by as much as 16 degrees centigrade (28 degrees Fahrenheit) and life on Earth plunged deeper into an ice age that lasted around 1,800 years.

In 1998, Stanley Ambrose, an anthropology professor at the University of Illinois, proposed in the Journal of Human Evolution that the effects of the Toba eruption and the Ice Age that followed could explain the apparent bottleneck in human populations that geneticists believe occurred between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. The lack of genetic diversity among humans alive today suggests that during this time period humans came very close to becoming extinct.

To test his theory, Ambrose and his research team analyzed pollen from a marine core in the Bay of Bengal that had a layer of ash from the Toba eruption. The researchers also compared carbon isotope ratios in fossil soil taken from directly above and below the Toba ash in three locations in central India - some 3,000 miles from the volcano - to pinpoint the type of vegetation that existed at various locations and time periods.

Heavily forested regions leave carbon isotope fingerprints that are distinct from those of grasses or grassy woodlands.

The tests revealed a distinct change in the type of vegetation in India immediately after the Toba eruption. The researchers write in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology that their analysis indicates a shift to a "more open vegetation cover and reduced representation of ferns," which grow in humid conditions, all of which "would suggest significantly drier conditions in this region for at least 1,000 years after the Toba eruption."

The dryness probably also indicates a drop in temperature "because when you turn down the temperature you also turn down the rainfall," Ambrose said. "This is unambiguous evidence that Toba caused deforestation in the tropics for a long time."

He also concluded that the disaster may have forced the ancestors of modern humans to adopt new cooperative strategies for survival that eventually permitted them to replace Neanderthals and other archaic human species.

Although humans survived the event, researchers have detected increasing activity underneath a caldera at Yellowstone National Park, where some suspect another supervolcanic eruption will eventually take place. Though not expected to occur anytime soon, a Yellowstone eruption could coat half the United States in a layer of ash up to 3 feet (1 meter) deep.A massive volcanic eruption that occurred in the distant past killed off much of... more

HowdyDo
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Some Amazing Facts About Marsupials

Travel the internet and learn. There is a wealth of information at our fingertips and... more

CHANLEEPENG
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Celtic Christianity Today Homily “Repent or the Time is Near” Part 2 by Rev. Dr. George Cairns

(Valparaiso, Indiana) - Rev. Dr. George Cairns of Chesterton, Indiana delivers a... more

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2 years ago
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Many sharks 'facing extinction'

Many species of open ocean shark are under serious threat, according to an assessment... more

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2 years ago
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'Extinct' Bird Sold for 10p, Cooked & Eaten

'Extinct' bird photographed for the first time ever... before it is sold for... more

julesrs007
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3 years ago
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10 Amazing Extinct Animals

10 impressive list with pictures of amazing animals we will never see.

CutestPrincess
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3 years ago
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Extinction looms in Zimbabwe, a paradise lost to guns, greed and hunger.

At first it seemed a paradise. Baboons played on the dusty track ahead of us. Impala... more

wedreamincolourx
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3 years ago
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Fossil-hunters brave Sahara to find dinosaur prize

A dinosaur-hunting expedition to the Sahara desert involving British scientists has... more

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3 years ago
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More Than 1,000 New Animals and Plants Found in One Region

More than 1,000 new animals and plants were recently found in the Mekong Delta region.... more

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3 years ago
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Scientists hope to clone extinct species

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japanese scientists have produced clones of mice that have been... more

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3 years ago
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Mexico's Water Monster Nearing Extinction

The axolotls, found only in Mexico is considered a monster by Mexican Locals and... more

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3 years ago
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Critical Decision Time for Humans: Earth's Kyros Moment, learn focus through jubilation chants

The founders of the Turtle Island Project believe residents of Earth are facing a... more

Yoopernewsman
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4 years ago
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