Lemurs get Caribbean vacation?

[windsor]

Richard Branson is a whole lots nuts - not always in a bad way - I had to double check the date to make sure it wasn't an April Fools article that popped back up...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110418/ap_ ... son_lemurs


Lavabe - is it even possible for them to survive in a different enviroment without human support (aka food)? Would love to hear your thoughts on this...

[Lavabe]

I'll have to hold off on replying until tomorrow, for the following reasons:
1) Grading crunch (primate conservation class essays);
2) A number of us primate folks are discussing the situation;
3) I am thinking about using this as part of my Primate Conservation class take-home final that I give out next week.

[Very Duke Blue]

I'll have to hold off on replying until tomorrow, for the following reasons:
1) Grading crunch (primate conservation class essays);
2) A number of us primate folks are discussing the situation;
3) I am thinking about using this as part of my Primate Conservation class take-home final that I give out next week.

I'm looking forward to get your opinion. It would be great if this works.

[windsor]

It reminds me of an interview I saw with a paleontologist (exactly which one escapes me at the moment). The topic was 'what if' you had viable T-Rex DNA. The paleontologist's point was that while you would produce, genetically a T-Rex was it really a T-Rex? Behaviorally it could be completely different. There are no other T-Rexs around to show the little guy how to be a T-Rex...all of its 'natural' food has been extinct for millions of years and there is no way to know how different nutrients in its diet could impact physical and cognitive development. After going on about all the reasons it wouldn't truly be the T-Rex for the age of dinosaurs the interview said to him "So if you had DNA you wouldn't use it." To which the good Dr. responded "To see a T-Rex...breathing...in the flesh...of course I would use it"

If you change the enviroment do you change the animal and how much? Does preserving a sufficently diverse genetic population trump any other concerns...I guess a Lemur in a beach chair with a Rum Runner is better than no Lemur at all...
and does it provide an opportunity to research how much the environment impacts behavior.

I have truly mixed feelings on this.