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Baby Mammoth Found Intact

Posted by samzenpus on from the pleistocene-park dept.

knoll99 writes "Scientists unveiled the discovery Wednesday of a baby mammoth found in the permafrost of north-west Siberia. The remains of the six-month-old female mammoth were discovered in a remarkable state of preservation on the Yamal peninsula of Russia in May, a Reuters report said. The specimen is believed to be the best of its kind to date."

7 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. Tissue and fluids? by An+Ominous+Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Jurassic Park-esque cloning talk is definitely going to be the focus of most of the discussion, but have any of the articles mentioned how well the tissues, organs, and fluids are preserved? This seems like an extraordinary chance to find hard evidence on what caused their extinction.

    1. Re:Tissue and fluids? by StikyPad · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'd wager heavily that the meat will be seriously tainted by freezer burn.

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  2. Turkey Baster.. by ynososiduts · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Time to extract the DNA and impregnate an African elephant to mess with nature in a way we shouldn't.

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    1. Re:Turkey Baster.. by Garrett+Fox · · Score: 4, Insightful

      To be fair, the purpose isn't to "mess with nature." It's not like scientists are saying, "Let's screw up the natural order of things," right? The point of doing this, if it's even possible, would be some combination of these closely related reasons: (1) satisfying our curiosity about what these things were like, (2) giving a species a second chance to live, (3) creating something interesting that no living human has seen, and (4) profiting from building an Ice Age Park. Aren't any of those legitimate reasons?

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    2. Re:Turkey Baster.. by suv4x4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The point of doing this, if it's even possible, would be some combination of these closely related reasons: (1) satisfying our curiosity about what these things were like, (2) giving a species a second chance to live, (3) creating something interesting that no living human has seen, and (4) profiting from building an Ice Age Park. Aren't any of those legitimate reasons?

      It's a question of perspective. We can't possibly mess with natural order since we're part of nature. If we separate ourselves from the rest of the animals, then absolutely everything we do messes with natural order, even breathing air in and out (we're stealing oxygen that belongs to nature!).

      There's a simpler guide: if we do it, would it result in a better (or neutral) situation for nature, and us, or worse?

      - Artificial ingredients in food that harms us: don't do it.
      - Artificial ingredients in food proven to not harm us: do it.
      - Genetically engineered food: it's again a case-per-case basis, no ultimate stance.
      - Revive ancient beasts: sounds like fun, what could go wrong? Are they gonna multiply overnight and take over the world?

  3. Re:Discovery Channel by geekoid · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ou know it takes years to do that stuff, right?

    I dare you to find a quote that says they will do this, without sort of caveat like "If there is good DNA"

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  4. Misleading title? by shutupkevin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Am I the only one who thinks the title of this article should've been "Baby Mammoth REMAINS found Intact?" I was so mislead :)