Scientists want to sequence the genome of all living kakapo parrots | Hacker News Reader

Scientists want to sequence the genome of all living kakapo parrots

sites.duke.edu

I didn't see the link in the article, but this seems to be the crowdfunding project to sequence all remaining kakapo:

https://www.geneticrescue.science/projects/genome-sequencing...

Direct link here: https://experiment.com/projects/sequencing-the-genomes-of-al...

Duke has $4B in their trust, they can't foot the $45,000 for this? (Duke grad)

I thought the same thing too. Although the trust might be set aside for specific purposes, of which funding research is outside the scope? My best guess.

I'll be on Codfish Island volunteering in about a month. Looking forward to do my part to help this amazing parrot.

I'm from New Zealand: Kakapos are one of my favourite animals in the world (along with Tuataras!), so I've got nothing but respect for the work you're doing :)

Is there a way someone like myself can help? Donations, etc.

I'll love to hear about your experience when you return.

Will do! Please send me your contact info.

Any chance of just posting it as an article submitted to hn? I'd love to hear about it as well (amateur ornithologist).

If not, my email is in my profile.

p.valdes334@gmail.com

Spoiler: No Perl6 here :-), this is about genetics of the endangered and terrestrial Kakapo parrot. A very interesting project.

I assume that the title is a hat tip to Monty Python's famous "Dead Parrot" sketch:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218

No wonder he's endangered: he attempts to mate with the photographer.

I've laughed quite hard about that too, couldn't help but wonder:

A) Is this is the reason why are the going extinct.

and

B) If that green shirt was probably not the best choice of color for the occasion.

> Is this is the reason why are the going extinct.

Nope. Have you seen animals in heat? They do crazy things like that and us being humans, anthropomorphize their behaviors to be something they aren't. No one claims kangaroos are in danger of extinction (they're far from it) when one of them tries to mate with another that's already dead[1].

The decline of most endangered species in NZ can be summed up in 2 primary reasons:

1) Humans. Some species being hunted to extinction instead of a sustainable level.

2) The animals humans brought with them. Feral cats and rats being the two main culprits.

There were no mammals on NZ before humans brought them and birds were the dominant species. Thus, there was little reason for many of them, such as this bird and the kiwi to fly. Now, both are in danger of extinction because their evolutionary paths never accounted for such predators.

[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35308161

I know it was in jest :) The settlement of NZ also introduced allot of natural predators which pushed allot of species to near extinction / extinction on the mainland, they've been using the Islands as natural reserves and introducing as many species to them as possible as they were note polluted with predators.

Ah yeah, I read something about they're trying to use "deodorant" for kiwis to stop predators from sniffing them out. Interesting stuff though and not sure what came of it, since it was last reported 5 or so years ago.

Non sequitur. Many abundant species (including dogs) also attempt such behavior with animate and inanimate objects.

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