Re:Lonely George the tree snail dies, and a species goes ext...
by perilunar on Tuesday January 08, 2019 @09:28PM
(#18861791)
"George’s remains were preserved in ethanol and his shell will join the more than 2 million other Hawaiian land snail specimens in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum’s malacological collection. (Malacology is the study of mollusks.)"
"And back in 2017, a tiny piece of George’s foot was carefully cut off and sent to scientists with the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research’s “Frozen Zoo” to provide DNA should scientists ever desire to clone him—which isn't currently possible, but likely will be in the near future. Every animal that dies in the captive breeding program is preserved, and Hadfield notes that it’s sometimes possible to get DNA from old shells as well, so there may be enough genetic diversity to bring the species back. But unless the forests they lived in are restored as well, and the invasive animals removed, there will be nowhere safe to put them."
So maybe one day, when we fixed the other more urgent ecological problems (climate change, habitat loss, etc.) we'll be able to bring back some of these lost species. Maybe.
"And back in 2017, a tiny piece of George’s foot was carefully cut off and sent to scientists with the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research’s “Frozen Zoo” to provide DNA should scientists ever desire to clone him—which isn't currently possible, but likely will be in the near future. Every animal that dies in the captive breeding program is preserved, and Hadfield notes that it’s sometimes possible to get DNA from old shells as well, so there may be enough genetic diversity to bring the species back. But unless the forests they lived in are restored as well, and the invasive animals removed, there will be nowhere safe to put them."
So maybe one day, when we fixed the other more urgent ecological problems (climate change, habitat loss, etc.) we'll be able to bring back some of these lost species. Maybe.