Sunday 11 June 2017

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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