Group suggests adding tag to resurrected extinct animal names

June 9, 2017 by Bob Yirka

(Phys.org)—A group of scientists from several institutions in Germany has suggested that extinct animals that are resurrected through scientific means be given a tag on their name to indicate their origins. In a Policy Forum piece in the journal Science, the group suggests adding the tag "recr" to scientific names given to resurrected creatures to make sure they are not confused with the original. 

As technology improves, scientists often find themselves faced with addressing overlooked classification issues—scientific naming is no exception. As researchers develop new methods of bringing back extinct species or improving old techniques, the resultant organisms are very nearly copies of their extinct ancestors. Currently, there are three main resurrection methods. The first is back breeding, in which a species is bred over time to resemble a bygone species. Another is cloning, in which ancient reproductive material is placed in the uterus of a living close relative. Finally, there is genomic engineering, in which information that is missing from samples of a target species is filled in using DNA from a close modern relative. None of the techniques result in creation of a creature that is an exact copy of the original species, and that is at least partly why the authors suggest adding a tag to their names.

The authors give examples of how the new tag could be used, changing Mammuthus columbi to Mammuthus recr. columbi, for example. In some cases, if the new species is not a close copy of the original, the group suggests that a new species name be given, such as Mammuthus recr. Americanus.

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Major study shakes the roots of dinosaur family tree

March 23, 2017

by Chuck Bednar

The origins and classifications of dinosaurs as we have known them for the past century may be completely wrong, and the first such creatures may have emerged around 15 million years earlier than previously believed, claims research published this week in the journal Nature.

As part of the new study, scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Natural History Museum of London re-examined the lineages of and relationships between the dinosaurs for the first time in 130 years, and found that existing theories of their evolution could be incorrect. In fact, according to BBC News, lead author Matthew Baron of Cambridge and his colleagues looked at fossil evidence and determined that the dinosaurs may have actually originated in the Northern Hemisphere – possibly in a region that is currently part of the UK.

“The northern continents certainly played a much bigger role in dinosaur evolution than we previously thought and dinosaurs may have originated in the UK,” Baron told the media outlet. “We may be looking at the possibility that the very earliest dinosaurs were roaming an area that has become Britain and the group itself could have originated on these shores.”

 
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