Public service announcement:
They are sequencing the Aurochs DNA.
Cool picture too. I presume that is the "heirloom" Aurochs they bred back into existence a few years ago, and not some new-fangled clone.
That is all.
That sounds like a lot of bull to me.
Hahah...
I can't wait to eat one. :)
Heartless bastards.
Heartless bastards.
Hey man, domestication is a great way to save a species. Worked for buffalo.
Or shall we say, beefalo.
Well I feel silly, but I didn't realize that aurochs were historical, I thought they were a game creation.
Well I feel silly, but I didn't realize that aurochs were historical, I thought they were a game creation.
That goes for my wife too - and her SCAP PC has an auroch companion! lol
Peace,
tfad
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I grew up about 15 miles away from a tourist attraction in Oklahoma called 'Buffalo Ranch.' (Which is probably the tourist trap where I got my stuffed jackalope...) I have a fondness for buffalo-burger, as a result. I too can't wait to see if Auroch is even better.
I remember reading about an octogenarian naturalist attending some conference about endangered birds on the Galapagos islands and leaning over to the reporter next to him and saying, "I've eaten quite a few of those, you know. Quite tasty."
Quickest way to bring back the dinosaurs, IMO, to market diplodocus as a docile animal that produces three to seven tons of lean low-fat free-range meat. :)
Well I feel silly, but I didn't realize that aurochs were historical, I thought they were a game creation.That goes for my wife too - and her SCAP PC has an auroch companion! lol
That's not so strange considering that just about every fantasy setting has its own take on "giant fantasy cow", like FR's "rothe".
For what its worth, I treasure the Aurochs in Pathfinder as an example of Paizo's enlightened philosophy of monsters. The Bestiary has to be the most thoroughly researched monster book in all RPG-dom.
Aurochs fun fact: "Aurochs" with an "s" is both the plural and the singular form of the animal's name!
Interesting stuff, maybe this can also be done (assuming intact remains can be found) for other extinct creatures (Great Auk, Stellar's Sea Cow (although that one is a bit of a long shot given its habitat), Carolina Parakeet, Thylacine, possibly others as well). Also this is merely sequencing; actually cloning the beast will require quite a bit more work beyond this (also, sufficient numbers of genetically distinct remains to create a non-genetically-bottlenecked population).
For what its worth, I treasure the Aurochs in Pathfinder as an example of Paizo's enlightened philosophy of monsters. The Bestiary has to be the most thoroughly researched monster book in all RPG-dom.
Well, except that the historical aurochs was about the size of the current American bison, water buffalo, or guar -- and quite a bit larger than the domestic bull or the European bison ("wisent"). So the stat blocks seem to be transposed... or else, in Golarion, "aurochs" means "wisent," not "aurochs."
For what its worth, I treasure the Aurochs in Pathfinder as an example of Paizo's enlightened philosophy of monsters. The Bestiary has to be the most thoroughly researched monster book in all RPG-dom.Well, except that the historical aurochs was about the size of the current American bison, water buffalo, or guar -- and quite a bit larger than the domestic bull or the European bison ("wisent"). So the stat blocks seem to be transposed... or else, in Golarion, "aurochs" means "wisent," not "aurochs."
My understanding was that the historical Aurochs stood 6 feet at the shoulder, and that the modern "rebreeding" was quite a bit smaller (and technically a different species). I'd be happy to read any material you care to link, though.
My understanding was that the historical Aurochs stood 6 feet at the shoulder
Correct... as does the American bison. And both ran/run about 2200 lbs. So therefore the aurochs (the actual extinct critter, not a dwarf lab version) should use the same stats as the bison, not the stats for what looks to be a wisent. Just Wikipedia the various cattle types and check out the height and weight ranges.
I found the two random Nazi facts in the middle of the article a little odd. It was like the reporter was Godwining the scientists.