In a remarkable leap for conservation science, researchers are spearheading efforts to bring back the elephant bird, an extinct species once towering over all other avians. Measuring up to 3 meters in height and weighing nearly 500 kilograms, this colossal bird roamed Madagascar until about 1,000 years ago. By leveraging cutting-edge genetic technologies and extensive fossil records, teams aim to reconstruct the elephant bird’s genome and begin the delicate process of de-extinction. Scientists emphasize that this initiative not only represents a triumph in biodiversity recovery but also offers invaluable insights into ecosystem restoration and evolutionary biology.

Key milestones for the project include:

  • Extraction and sequencing of ancient DNA from well-preserved eggshells
  • Genome editing to address gaps using genomes…