Could passenger pigeons fly again?

[raccoon]

Could scientists re-create passenger pigeons from DNA in the feathers, bones, etc. of deceased passenger pigeons?

[kenny blankenship]

1. Um how are we supposed to convert to solar

if our skies are darkened by the vast swarms of passenger pigeons that used to fly over America? And I suppose you want to bring back the Carolina Parakeet as well...
Could you liberals PLEASE sort it out and get your storylines straight?

[HereSince1628]

6. hahahahahah!

[raccoon]

10. "bring back the Carolina Parakeet " --a good thought. nt

[Ian David]

2. I bet Dick Cheney's grandpa killed a fair number of them

And probably didn't shoot any lawyers in the process.

[raccoon]

11. I bet you're right, it's the Cheneys' fault that the passenger

pigeon is extinct.

[theHandpuppet]

19. Well little George did his best to eliminate the killdeer

http://www.savethedoves.org/gwbush.html

Note: 150 buck fine for shooting a killdeer; nada for blasting your hunting buddy in the face with a shotgun. Self, make note.

[formercia]

3. We don't have enough pigeons? n/t

Some people can come up with the strangest proposals for a grant.

No, they don't carry passengers.

[InvisibleTouch]

4. I vote for the Quagga, myself. n/t

[oneighty]

5. After the last electron flows

and the world grows dark again we can all have PP-Mail.

180

[mike_c]

7. with current technology, no....

I suppose that if perfectly preserved tissue samples were available, it might be possible to insert their chromosomes into a closely related species' ovum, but not with tissue taken from museum specimens. And without female passenger pigeons to produce passenger pigeons ova, the chances of success are vanishingly slim. Extinction really is forever, at least today.

[raccoon]

9. Thanks, Mike! nt

[HereSince1628]

8. Now, that would be an interesting problem...

Reconstruct and insert the chromosomes of the passenger pigeon into another of our doves...looks like a job for DR. GEL JOCHI.

I gotta believe that job is a long way down the pike.

[benburch]

12. Unlikely.

Only one frozen specimen and it was a female. Were it a male, we'd have the Y-chomosme too.

[AlienGirl]

16. No, the female is ZW and the male is ZZ

In birds, it's the male who has two of the same chromosome. So the frozen female's DNA would, theoretically, provide the template for both another ZW (female) bird and, if the Z could be replicated, a ZZ (male) bird.

Tucker

[Dead_Parrot]

17. You're way too smart.... nt

[freethought]

13. Not very likely.

Even if we did have a male and female frozen passenger pigeon. It is still not very likely that the DNA would be intact. DNA degrades over time, frozen or not frozen. The passenger pigeon has been extinct for a century or thereabouts. It is not very likely that the DNA has held up.

I do believe there is a team in Australia trying to reincarnate the Tasmanian Tiger, a marsupial predator. The project was on, then off due to the fact the one sample they did have came from a fetal specimen in alcohol. The genetic material had degraded so much that it was unworkable. Now as I understand it the project may be on again, perhaps they found a new source of genetic material.

If you have bones, feathers or whatever, these parts may have had certain treatment done to preserve them. For example, the bones of animal skeletons are often placed in boiling water to "cook" and preserve them, that is a surefire way to destroy or severely degrade any genetic material. And feathers,
one only had to look, at the work a taxidermist does. Hides, feathers, and skins are often treated in chemicals to preserve them, again degrading the DNA.

Sorry to give you that news. It would be great if we could do it.

[semillama]

14. Think of what it would to air travel

Modern air travel would be very different if the PP was not extinct. Imagine having to account for flocks of 100s of 1000s as you made your ascent/descent...


If I had to choose one, it would be the Carolina Parakeet. After holding a couple specimens in my hands at a museum, it really became apparent how much dimmer and less pleasant our nation is for not taking steps over a hundred years ago to preserve this species.

[Odin2005]

15. 200 years ago there were more passenger pidgeons than people.

By the Early 20th century they were gone. :cry:

[Dead_Parrot]

18. I'd like to see us try.

Out of the thousands, if not millions, of species we've wiped out, It would be some small, cold comfort to drag a few back. It would make me feel a little better.

Better wait 'til the bird 'flu's over, though. :D