Name: How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger
Uploaded: 2013-06-27T15:00:59Z
Duration: 17 min 23 s
Description: The gastric brooding frog lays its eggs just like any other frog -- then swallows them whole to incubate. That is, it did until it went extinct 30 years ago. Paleontologist Michael Archer makes a case to bring back the gastric brooding frog and the thylacine, commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger.

Michael Archer: How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger

How we'll resurrect the gastric brooding frog, the Tasmanian tiger

The gastric brooding frog lays its eggs just like any other frog -- then swallows them whole to incubate. That is, it did until it went extinct 30 years ago. Paleontologist Michael Archer makes a case to bring back the gastric brooding frog and the thylacine, commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger.

Bringing back vanished species like the gastric-brooding frog and the thylacine is becoming a real possibility thanks to breakthroughs in genetic technology. The frog, famous for swallowing its own eggs and raising young in its stomach, vanished just as scientists realized its unique medical potential. Both species were lost through direct human actions, raising urgent ethical questions. Reviving them could help restore damaged ecosystems and reveal new ways for humans to value and protect wildlife.