Gallery: Extinct Species We Wish Science Would Bring Back to Life
01smilodon-vs-canis-dirus
The permanence of extinction may soon go the way of the dodo. The idea of bringing species back from the dead is gaining traction as scientific advances bring it closer to the realm of possibility. Today scientists are meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss how they might really be able to [resurrect animals like the passenger pigeon](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/03/passenger-pigeon-de-extinction/) or the woolly mammoth. Let's go along with this for a bit and assume they figure out how to do this. We'll suspend all the ethical and practical issues surrounding actually doing it for now and talk about the most interesting aspect: Which species should they bring back to life? There could be many reasons to focus on a species, such as usefulness for humans, benefits to the environment, righting wrongs, or plain old nostalgia. But we find ourselves veering rather quickly toward one criterion: awesomeness. Sure the story of the passenger pigeon has its appeal: There were billions of them, humans came along, then there were thousands, and then there were none, all in the space of just a few hundred years. The stories of mega-flocks blackening the skies and trampling the landscape are amazing. But wouldn't you rather see a mega-bird? How about one that is 6 feet tall and carnivorous? Or a bird that is 12-feet tall? What about the biggest raptor that ever lived? There are lots of barriers to bringing back any species, like the age and degradation of [whatever DNA we have left in fossils](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/jurassic-park-dna-half-life/) and museum collections, and the need for a living species closely related enough to host this ancient DNA. We've tried to stay within the (very generous) zone of suspendible disbelief for our wish list, limiting ourselves to Pleistocene magafauna that lived just hundreds of thousands (rather than millions) of years ago (there's no T-rex or megalodon), but our main focus was how loudly you would likely say "WHOA!" upon seeing the live animal. Did we forget your favorite? Let us know in the comments. *Image: Saber-tooth tiger battles dire wolves for a mammoth carcass in the La Brea tar pits. Robert Bruce Horsfall, 1913. (Public domain/[Wikimedia commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Smilodon_and_Canis_dirus.jpg))*
02dire-wolf
Dire Wolf --------- We're not saying that commercial interests should trump science when it comes to choosing which animals to bring back, but the explosive popularity of *Game of Thrones* certainly puts dire wolves high on the list. Of course, the magnificent Stark-sigil Direwolf from the books and TV show are purely fictional with their high intelligence and horse-size bodies. Actual dire wolves were nonetheless awesome. Growing to about 1.5 m in length, dire wolves roamed North America as recently as 10,000 years ago. They probably hunted in packs much like wolves today and brought down much larger creatures than themselves. *Image: Game of Thrones/HBO*
03giant-ground-sloth-2
Giant Ground Sloth ------------------ [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2013/03/megatherium.jpg) What could be more awesome than a sloth? A [bucket of baby sloths](http://vimeo.com/59234110). Or, one really, really big sloth. *Megatherium* was as big as an elephant, measuring as much as 20 feet from head to tail. Only mammoths and Paraceratherium were bigger. Its claws were so big it had to walk on the sides of its feet to accommodate them. And it could stand up and walk on two feet like you do. The giant ground sloth could reach higher than any herbivore it encountered, giving it a big foraging advantage. Scientists think it may have also had an extra long tongue to grab leaves with, just like their little counterparts do today. The sloths were so big, they had no real enemies until we came along. Some studies have suggested the animals [may have even been carnivorous](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/06/revenge-of-the-meat-eating-megatherium/), using their size to help themselves to prey that saber-tooth tigers had killed or captured their own prey by simply knocking over other big animals. But most hew to the leaf-and-peace-loving story line for these mammals. *Megatherium* lived in North and South America, hanging on until around 10,000 years ago. They are impressive specimens in many museum collections, and you might even be able to [buy your own giant fossil sloth](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/06/dinosaur-auction-gallery/). We'd rather see the living, breathing version. *Images: Top: Megatherium americanum. Robert Bruce Horsfall, 1913. ([Wikimedia commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Megatherium_americanum.jpg)). Right: [Wikimedia commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Megatherum_DB.jpg).*
04haasts-eagle-and-moa
Haast's Eagle and Moa --------------------- As long as we're resurrecting animals, why not ecosystems? We could reconstruct at least part of one ancient food chain by bringing back the famous flightless bird of New Zealand, the moa. These enormous avians -- some of which stretched more than 3.5 m from toe to beak -- were the dominant herbivores in the land down under the land down under until the Maori hunted them to extinction around 1400 A.D. Before the arrival of man, though, moas feared another predator: the incredible Haast's Eagle. The largest known raptor to have ever lived, Haast's Eagles would soar with their 3-m wingspans and then dive down on poor moas at speeds up to 80 km/hr. The predatory birds went extinct when their major food source -- moas -- was obliterated. *Image: [John Megahan/PLoS Biology](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_Haasts_eagle_attacking_New_Zealand_moa.jpg)*
05diprotodon
Diprotodon ---------- Nobody knows what *Diprotodon* looked like. But we're pretty sure it was strange. The largest marsupial that ever lived, it is sometimes referred to as a giant wombat. They grew to be as big as a hippo, measuring up to 10-feet long and weighing more than 3 tons. There really isn't anything remotely like this creature around today, which is why we'd like to bring it back. That's the only way we'll ever know what this odd beast looked like. *Image: One of the [many interpretations](http://bit.ly/ZcoK73) of what Diprotodon might have looked like. ([Wikimedia commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diprotodon11122.jpg))*
06dodo
Dodo ---- No animal may be more iconic than the dodo when it comes to extinction. These fat, flightless birds lived what we can only presume was a peaceful life on the island of Mauritius. When explorers arrived, they hunted the birds down and unleashed invasive species that killed or competed with the dodos. The last one was seen in the wild in 1662. If any species deserves to be brought back from extinction, it's probably this one. *Image: [Cornelis Saftleven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saftleven_dodo.jpg)*
07paraceratherium
Paraceratherium --------------- [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2013/03/Paraceratherium_size.jpg)A lot of the animals we find ourselves wishing for are bigger versions of something similar that is still living. Some are just big. *Paraceratherium* is probably the biggest land mammal that ever lived. So obviously we want to see some of those, walking around, dwarfing elephants (and also the mammoths we also brought back). We strayed into the millions of years ago territory we said we'd avoid to include this one, but come on. These crazy looking things were around 16 feet tall at the shoulder! They were almost 30 feet long and probably weighed 18 tons. Whoa. *Images: Top: [Wikimedia commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indricotherium11.jpg). Right: [Wikimedia commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paraceratherium_size.jpg).*
08smilodon
Smilodon -------- Possible homicidal psycho jungle kitties, members of the genus Smilodon would not make great candidates for de-extinction. Unless, of course, you could make them in pint-size versions. Imagine a cute little saber-toothed beast of death tromping around your living room, walking all over your keyboard, leaving enormous tooth marks on your couch. Cute and terrifying at the same time. Smilodons used to roam the plains (not jungles) of North and South America, attacking ancient ground sloths, bison, and camels. No one is exactly sure why their teeth are so big, though some scientists suggest they were used to signal sexual prowess to females. Smilodons went extinct about 10,000 years ago. *Image: [Charles R. Knight](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smilodon_Knight.jpg)*
09megacerops
Megacerops ---------- Imagine the great cracking sound that must have thundered across North Americas plains when Megacerops males fought in head-to-head combat. These rhino-like creatures have awesome Y-shaped horns with blunt ends perfect for smashing into a rival that's eying your female. As grazers, Megacerops herds could be brought back and unleashed on their old grounds. *Image: [Dmitry Bogdanov/Wikimedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Megacerops_10.jpg)*
10marsupial-lion
Marsupial Lion -------------- The marsupial lion was the largest meat-eating mammal known to have existed in Australia, roughly comparable in size to female lions and tigers. It's not actually very closely related to lions, being a marsupial it shares more in common with koalas and kangaroos. Going extinct 46,000 years ago shouldn't be a barrier to this apex predator. Maybe we humans can bring them back in some sort of version of Pleistocene Park. *Image: [Karora/Wikimedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thylacoleo_skeleton_in_Naracoorte_Caves.jpg)*
11tasmanian-tiger
Tasmanian Tiger --------------- Thylacine is an excellent candidate for de-extinction: It only went extinct recently, and it looks like an awesome cross between a wolf, a lion and a numbat. The species disappeared from mainland Australia a couple thousand years ago, but survived in Tasmania until the 20th century. That population took a big hit when Thylacines were blamed for killing sheep, and the Tasmanian government began paying bounties for dead tigers between 1888 and 1909. The last captive Thylacine died in 1936, likely from neglect, 59 days after it finally received government protection. Subsequent searches for remaining tigers in the wild turned up hundreds of reported sightings, but no solid evidence. I think we owe this species a big apology. But we'll need to bring it back before we can. *Image: Thylacines at the Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, 1910. ([Wikimedia commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thylacines.jpg))*
12woolly-rhinoceros
Woolly Rhinoceros ----------------- Everyone knows that woolly things are superior to non-woolly things. Case in point, the Woolly Rhinoceros, a species that lived throughout Europe and Asia until about 10,000 years ago. Our ancestors most certainly saw these beasts running around on the steppes as they are a popular choice for cave painters. With frozen Siberian specimens, and extant rhinoceroses still living, this is definitely a species to try out our new de-extinction powers on. *Image: [Mauricio Antón/PLoS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Woolly_rhinoceros_(Coelodonta_antiquitatis)_-_Mauricio_Ant%C3%B3n.jpg)*
13woolly-mammoth
Woolly Mammoth -------------- Woolly Mammoths really should be around today. Isolated pockets of theses creatures lived until historic times, dying out only 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. And we've got frozen specimens with preserved soft tissue. Our great-great-great-great-times-500-grandfathers probably hunted these magnificent beasts and certainly loved to draw them on cave walls. As far as extinct charismatic megafauna go, Woolly Mammoths lead the pack. *Image: [Mauricio Antón/PLoS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_age_fauna_of_northern_Spain_-_Mauricio_Ant%C3%B3n.jpg)*
