RIP Yangtze River dolphin. We'll miss you guys.

Thanks for the news, 'Train!The resarchers had been hoping to implement a program that involved starting a population of Baiji in a more remote river. It involved (perhaps) some breeding of the species in captivity. In making the original announcement they said the absence of Baiji in the main river suggests there is not a viable population to sustain the species, even if individuals survive.It's a relief, just the same. One hopes the scare lit a fire under some butts.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

I agree.Losing what you've got before you even know what you have... human experience has shown that, time and again, to be a bad way to do things.In the last generation, really, our own species has begun in earnest to understand cladistics. We are beginning to put together life's family tree. We are coming to appreciate the odds any species has to beat, through eons of evolution, just to be here. You want to know more about that. How did it get here? How does it relate to the other living things on this planet? What can it teach us?To lose a unique life form just to meet some comparatively short-term interest (harvesting a common variety of fish, finding feathers for women's hats) is bad value in any trade. It's short sighted. Other options to meet the same needs can be found.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.