What extinct creature would you bring back? (Earth, dinosaur, grace)

[Ori]

I would probably bring back one of the dinosaurs, but I don't know which.

[Original Freak]

all the ones who's extenction was caused by man's manipulation of the planet and not by natural selection.

[jewscout]

the dodo bird

[michel]

If you've had the Dodo, Jewscout, I'll have to go one better............

Unlike the ungainly, inedible dodo, the graceful, long-necked solitaires were described as "delightfully beautiful and delightfully edible", with one early observer writing "The Females are wonderfully beautiful, some fair, some brown; I call them fair, because they are of the colour of fair Hair. They have a sort of Peak, like a Widow's upon their Beak, which is of a dun colour. No one feather is straggling from the other . . . The Feathers on their Thighs are round like shells at one end, and being there very thick, have an agreeable effect. They have two Risings on the Craws, and the Feathers are whiter there than the rest, which lively represents the fine bosom of a Beautiful Woman. They walk with so much stateliness and good Grace, that one cannot help admiring and loving them."
François Leguat, a Huguenot refugee from France exiled to previously uninhabited Rodrigues for two years, described the Rodrigues solitaire in his memoirs, which were published in 1708. Until 1875, when solitaire skeletons were found, his descriptions were considered fanciful. Archaeology finally upheld much of what he had written and his descriptions are now taken seriously. Leguat described the solitaires' mating dances and displays; the birds whirred their short wings and clapped them "like a rattle" against their sides. They guarded their nests and single chicks and were territorial driving away other solitaires from their territory. They also mated for life: "these two Companions never disunite".

Leguat described the birds' annual "betrothal" ceremonies: "Some days after the young one leaves the nest a Company of 30 or 40 brings another young one to it; and the new-fledged Bird with its Father and Mother joyning with the Band, march to some bye Place. We frequently followed them, and found that afterwards the old ones went each their way alone, or in Couples, and left the two young ones together, which we call a Marriage."

Thirty years after Leguat, another observer wrote: "When caught they make no sound, but shed tears", and said that they pined away quickly, refusing to eat in captivity. As well as being monogamous, territorial and slow breeding (with only a single chick), the solitaires could also be aggressive, pecking fiercely and striking with their small wings. Their apparently useless wings were tipped with knobs "the size of musket balls" and these were used as weapons as well as being the source of the rattling sound when they danced.

In spite of being described as useful, intelligent and beautiful, the opposite of the supposedly useless, stupid and ugly Mauritius dodo, the solitaire shared the dodo's fate. There were reports of solitaires on Rodrigues as late as 1761. In 1831, a long-time inhabitant of the island said he had never seen or heard of the solitaire, so it was certainly extinct by 1800. Several solitaire skeletons were unearthed on Rodrigues in 1875; these included the "widow's peak" and the "musket-ball wingclappers" described by Leguat.

[Engyo]

I think the problem here is that unless we know exactly why a species became extinct, and if possible take steps to correct that, we probably shouldn't attempt to restore an extinct species. We have had some success restoring endangered animals to their natural habitat, but even that can be problematic when the needs of humans and the needs of the restored animals are in conflict.

Look at what happens when we (accidently or intentionally) introduce non-native species just to a different area, where their natural predators or competition don't exist.........think kudzu, fire ants, killer bees, Formosan termites, or the toads in Australia, just to name a few.

Besides, species as far back in history as dinosaurs pose even more problems. Our climate has changed greatly since they lived, including the Earth's axial tilt if I remember correctly. Seasons are far more pronounced than they were 100+ million years ago. We can't be sure that they will be able to eat what is now available, or resist modern micro-organisms. They may need some sort of natural symbiotes (think of the bacteria in the human digestive tract) or many other options we cannot yet know. The atmospheric composition may even be different enough to give them problems.

[Melody]

Frubals, Engyo. That was my thought. We have no idea what long term impact the once extinct creature would have on the environment so I don't think I'd bring back any.

[Jaymes]

I'd bring back the Carolina parakeet. The one native parrot species we had, gone...

[Scuba Pete]

The trilobyte. Definitely NOT the megladon... but the trilobyte would be cool.

[SarahBeara]

Can these "creatures" be a hominid? Because it would be cool to bring back neanderthals.

[Dinogrrl]

Trilobites would be nifty :**.

But I'm still a dinosaur freak . A therizinosaur would be cool...or Herrersaurus...