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More information here[1]: Bovine-led biodiversity: For millions of years, European land has been grazed – by wild herbivores, and, far more recently, by domest
by themgt 5y ago
More information here[1]:
Bovine-led biodiversity: For millions of years, European land has been grazed – by wild herbivores, and, far more recently, by domestic cattle. This grazing has kept parts of the land free from forest, providing open habitats that support a wide range of plants and animals.
But today a decline in animal husbandry across Europe means these habitats, and their biodiversity, are in danger of disappearing. This is where the auroch, or its descendant – the so-called “Tauros” – comes in. Through selective breeding, Rewilding Europe and its partners want Tauros to occupy the niche the auroch once filled, keeping Europe’s rich mosaic of open landscapes flourishing through natural grazing.
These are cow ancestors that went extinct in 1627 and had as little 0.12% genetic distance from current cow breeds. This sounds reminiscent of bison/wolf reintroduction or the more dramatic goal of bringing mammoths back to the tundra. I'm pretty near 100% supportive of all these efforts. The holocene has been an absolute catastrophe for megafauna and we're increasingly realizing this has had dramatically negative downstream consequences for other species and even landscape and climate.
I find it really unserious the people comparing this to like, bringing back velociraptors and t-rex. They're being back-bred via existing cows, there's not even any "genetic engineering" as such. As far as I know no one's planning to reintroduce Smilodon to the Appalachian Trail - beyond maybe a few exceptions, I say bring back the megafauna.
[1] https://rewildingeurope.com/rewilding-in-action/wildlife-comeback/tauros/ https://rewildingeurope.com/rewilding-in-action/wildlife-com...
- FooBarBizBazz 5y ago> no one's planning to reintroduce Smilodon to the Appalachian Trail We could start a letter-writing campaign?
- jaggederest 5y agoI for one think humanity has gotten a little complacent at night. Put a little pep in your step watching for things with 11 inch canines.
- oblio 5y agoAmeericans for sure haven't. They have so many guns like they're living in the Cretaceous and humans are not the dominant species on the planet.
- Arrath 5y agoI once (briefly) saw a cougar while out on a hike. That was enough to put a big pep in my step.
- jaggederest 5y agoI've heard them a few times and it's definitely hair-raising. Smilodon and friends were up to 6 times more massive, which is a very sobering thought. By comparison, cougars are cute little kitty friends.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- nekcihc 5y ago>>I find it really unserious the people comparing this to like, bringing back velociraptors and t-rex Every joke has some truth in it: we have a chicken - a very viable candidate to back-bred dino. Well, either that or we can have a giant chicken, that might strike fear in everybody. Though, cassowaries also are frightening enough.
- bryanrasmussen 5y agoI think we should meet halfway and try to breed a Bronteroc.
- nekcihc 5y agoDefinitely, Yes.
- mschuster91 5y ago> beyond maybe a few exceptions, I say bring back the megafauna. For what it's worth, there is something way easier than trying to breed back extinct species - bring back wolves [1]. Sadly though, outside of national parks farmers don't like apex predators like wolves because they like to snack on farm animals... and farmers don't like to invest into herd protection either with humans or with animals, because the profit margins don't allow that. [1]: https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wildlife/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/ https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wildlife/wolf-r...
- dalbasal 5y agoRe smilodon... Cats are a fairly young family of carnivores. They're surprisingly closely related to eachother with some surprising hybridisation potential. It might not be that far fetched.