...it's a shame there aren't many (any?) recently extincted animals - Dwarf Fortress would be a great opportunity to bring them back to life once again. I'm talking about sea cows, thylacines, tarpans, aurochs, etc. Here's hoping for some extinct donation drive in the future.
It does bring up the question of what "should" be in DF. Distinctly real-world-localised animals (the kiwi, lemur, kangaroo, platypus, capybara, kea, cockatoo, etc, all of which are on the sponsor list) will be jarring enough.
Respectfully, I have to agree with Jiri Petru and disagree with Dante. Incorporating recently extinct animals
would be cool. Also, unlike extreme fantasy creatures like unicorns, dragons, merpersons, and iron man (which are already in DF), recently extinct animals are entirely realistic and believable since we know they used to exist. Personally, I would find sea cows and aurochs less jarring than kangaroos and platypus. Though, I will admit that's because the latter seems
fantastically different and I immediately associate them with only one location (Australia).
Consider, too, that the extinction of many species has been attributed to either human activity or climate change. Another words, many such species might still be alive today if it wasn't for the expansion of human hunting and habitation (humansplosion?) or if said species were not isolated to a pocket environment where they could not migrate in reaction to environmental changes. The worlds created in DF are
not Earth, yet they seem Earth-like and embody the spirit of "untamed wilds". So I could easily see some 'extinct' species there.
Besides, we know a great deal about some recently extinct species because we have remains and, in some cases, detailed descriptions and studies. In fact, there have been some half-successful attempts to "breed back" a few extinct species. For instance, Heck Cattle were bred to have very similar size and traits to the Auroch and Heck Horses were bred to resemble the Tarpan.
Personally, I want to see the Auroch and Giant Deer introduced, among several others. (I'd also mention the Mammoth, but that's already included in Genesis Mod.) Their size would make them dangerous to fight and they'd provide a
lot of meat, bone and leather. To that end, I think I will try to create my own mod.
PS: I also support the notion of expanding the animal variety in Cold and Freezing climes. It seems more variety is needed there.
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Topic: Results In! Rainseeker's Animal Sponsorship Drive (Read 141783 times)