'Hey Bill Nye, Which Extinct Animal Would You Like to See Alive Again?' #TuesdaysWithBill| Big Think

Hello Mr. Nye. My question is that even though it would never happen if you could go back in time to observe any prehistoric animal or animals which would it be? For me it would be the giant arthropods of the carboniferous.

Well Christian, this is a fabulous hypothetical question but let’s say we didn’t go prehistoric. Let’s say we went historic. The animal that I would like to see is the Steller’s sea cow. This is a marine mammal apparently very much like a manatee but lived in salt water in the Bering Sea and then off Alaska or Siberia.

And this thing was driven to extinction not too long ago, the 1700s. And I can imagine an extraordinary technology that will take the bones of one of these creatures which are in certain collections and somehow reproduce effectively enough the DNA of that animal and have him or her come back and start over again. Because that animal very recently was in the ecosystem up there, as I say up there, in Alaska and Siberia, the Bering Sea perhaps.

That it might be a great thing to actually reintroduce it to the ecosystem. And it would be a spectacular deal. As far as going way back in time, what sells in movies? Giant ancient dinosaurs. I give you though that the huge millipedes that you were talking about, Christian, that’s cool. But it’s not first on my list. We’ll see how it goes. It’s a cool question.