Re: Speciation - how do you know?
JR Bauer (juli@uwm.edu)
Wed, 25 Sep 1996 17:25:18 GMT
Stephen Barnard <steve@megafauna.com> wrote:
>Tim Edwards and/or Marghie Parsons wrote:
>>
>> Hi.
>> I spotted an article in Newsweek about a Japanese researcher who wants
>> to try to fertilize a modern Indian elephant with the frozen sperm of
>> a woolly mammoth. (Not anthro, I know, but bear with me). How can he
>> know whether mammoth and elephant are similar enough to produce
>> fertile offspring? (I suppose, if it works, he will know for sure.)
>>
>
a) Where on earth did he find frozen wooly mammoth sperm?
b) With the uncertain preservation conditions what make him believe
it's viable?
c) Why not do a DNA analysis to assess compatibility?
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