The New Zealand Moa is coming back from extinction!!!

Colossal Biosciences, has just announced their latest project: bringing back the Giant Moa of New Zealand! This huge, flightless bird looks like something from the age of dinosaurs, it actually went extinct pretty recently, just 600 years ago, not long after humans arrived. And because it disappeared so recently, we have a bunch of stuff from it such as bones, feathers, and most importantly, DNA. Colossal is collaborating with New Zealand’s Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, an institution founded to support the main Māori tribe of the region. The project will initially involve recovering and analysing ancient DNA from moa species to decode its unique genetic makeup. The goal is to use this knowledge to inform conservation efforts and understand the role of climate change and human activity in biodiversity loss. But Colossal is also actively putting their technology into practice to rescue animals on the brink of extinction, such as the pink pigeon, northern white rhino, and North American red wolf. And through this project, they also plan to apply their technology to help save some of New Zealand’s current endangered species.

First, researchers will sequence high quality genomes of the moa and its closest living relatives, the tinamou and emu. This will allow them to conduct comparative analyses to identify the specific genetic changes that gave rise to moa-specific traits, such as its large body size and lack of wings. These genetic changes will then be introduced into the primordial germ cells (PGCs) of a surrogate bird using multiplex genome editing. While the tinamou is the moa's closest genetic relative, the larger size of the emu makes it a more suitable surrogate for the interspecies surrogacy process, which will finish in the incubation and hatching of a moa egg!

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New species of Manta Ray discovered in the Atlantic Ocean!

For years, divers in the Atlantic Ocean had been seeing a unique manta ray with a distinctive black and white coloring, and different morphometric features that looked different from regular oceanic manta rays around the world. Even though its presence had been documented for over 15 years, a lack of available specimens, and DNA testing meant no one had formally identified it. Now, a team of researchers has officially found it to be a new species, giving it the name Mobula yarae, or the Atlantic manta ray. This new ray was considered a "cryptic" species, meaning it looked very similar to others but was actually genetically distinct. To finally make the identification, researchers analyzed its DNA, mouth shape, body proportions, and other subtle physical features. This is why it’s now its own species, it’s been identified as a unique species whose entire known range is limited to the Atlantic Ocean. The new species has an estimated maximum size of 16 to 20 feet wide! These rays have a wide range, living from Florida all the way to the coast of Brazil.

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This week we discuss Colossal bringing back the Moa, how some veterinarians can scam people, and huge lobsters that deserve to live. Enjoy!