M.J. Rose

Here is a recent tidbit on the emerging field of species resurrection— an article about the remarkably preserved baby mammoth (from Atlas Obscura):

THE BEST-PRESERVED WOOLLY MAMMOTH GOES ON DISPLAY IN JAPAN, BUT SHOULD WE RESURRECT IT?

BY ALLISON MEIER

Woolly mammoth on display (photograph by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP, via hungeree)

“A prehistoric woolly mammoth that was long encased in the New Siberian Islands has gone on display in Yokohama, Japan, so visitors can see for themselves what is considered the best-preserved mammoth ever discovered.

Honestly, she’s a bit grotesque looking, all grey stretched out skin and mottled hair that seems like the barest husk of life. Some of her flesh is even shredded by long-dead predators. But considering she’s 39,000 years old, she doesn’t look too bad. The fact that there’s the orangish fur at all is remarkable, as well as the preserved trunk and broad feet. Most importantly, however, is that for the first time with a mammoth, scientists have found blood in the veins, which raises this quesion: could we resurrect the woolly mammoth?…”

For the complete piece click here.

More more on species resurrection see the Revive & Restore project. They are presenting working on bringing back extinct species. They’ve already starting with the passenger pigeon.

Wouldn’t this be an amazing seed for a novel? Who were the people who brought this sphinx so far east?

Fragments of a 4,000 year old Egyptian sphinx inscribed with the name of the pharaoh Micerino (otherwise known as Menkaure “Eternal like the Souls of Re”, or in Greek, Mycerinus or Mykerinus), were recently found in the eastern mediterranean. The fragments are from the only “Micerino” sphinx ever found in this area.

Archeology: remains of Egyptian sphinx found in Israel

Inscribed with the name of Micerino, the only sphinx in the East