Extinct Tree From Christ's Time Rises From the Dead

[edge]

Extinct Tree From Christ's Time Rises From the Dead



I thought this to be really cool.

Carbon dating of the seeds found at Masada revealed that they date from roughly the time of the ancient fortress' siege, in A.D. 73. The seeds were found in storage rooms, and appear to have been stockpiled for the Jews hiding out against the invading Romans.



Taken from here: http://www.livescience.com/history/080612-methuselah-tree.html

[Denver]

That is very cool.

Hopefully we won't experience a Jurassic Park Effect though.

[Ixion]

That is very cool.

Hopefully we won't experience a Jurassic Park Effect though.

Awww...you mean venom spitting dinos resurrected using frog DNA is pure fiction??? ;)


At any rate, I wonder what other ancient seeds are just sitting around waiting to be germinated?

[Arkayik]

does this mean it is no longer extinct...?

[Ixion]

It means that the meaning of the word "extinct" might have to be redefined at the least.

[Madalch]

does this mean it is no longer extinct...?

Well, there's only one. Will it self-pollinate? If it needs to cross-pollinate with another of its kind, it won't reproduce. If it cross-pollinates with other date trees, it can hardly be expected to breed true.

[Denver]

It's an interesting question.

The definition from Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extinct) is:

"2: no longer existing <an extinct animal>"

So I suppose this plant was still existing, in seed form. So wasn't technically extinct. I think extinct probably implies 'presumed', since it seems difficult for some species to really be 100% sure.

[Ixion]

Well, there's only one. Will it self-pollinate? If it needs to cross-pollinate with another of its kind, it won't reproduce. If it cross-pollinates with other date trees, it can hardly be expected to breed true.

I just did a quick wiki on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_dactylifera)) and it seems that male and female plants are needed. Not the best source of information, but it does give some insight to the hypothesis.

[ImaginalDisc]

So, are we going to cross it with anything?

[NobbyNobbs]

Maybe they can just grow more from the same source of seeds, then cross-pollinate.

[edge]

I guess as long as the seed was still able to grow it was just lost and now found.
But it amazes me that it's embryo survived for that long; Why not.
Conditions for that somehow had to be perfect.
If they can get one more of the opposite sex to grow that would be real cool and then to bring back a population of them would even be better.
They stated that they tried a quantity and that was the only one of the batch I wonder how many more tries they have?

[XBoxWarrior]

teh Joohs......it's always teh Joohs.

on another note, I once grew some pretty damn good sativa from seeds
I found in the back of my '73 VW bus.

;)

[UnrepentantSinner]

It means that the meaning of the word "extinct" might have to be redefined at the least.

I think extinct carries with it a "as far as we know" presumption. There could always be a surviving population of a species somewhere or, as in this case, ungerminated seeds in the case of plants.

[David Swidler]

The dates of that area were of legendary quality. Jericho, not too many miles to the north, was already referred to in Deuteronomy as "the city of dates."

[Starthinker]

Let's get on with the cloning of the wooly mamanth now.

[maxfrost]

Yet, further proof that Christianity is the one, true religion.

[richardm]

According to the article, the palm is extinct in Israel, which does imply that it can be found readily elsewhere in the world. A quick Google around seems to indicate that this is indeed the case.

Still pretty cool, though!

[Tricky]

Damn, that's a long time to go without a date.

[six7s]

"2: no longer existing <an extinct animal>"
I don't think, therefore I'm not <a bleever, h. gullibilius>

[a_unique_person]

Let's get on with the cloning of the wooly mamanth now.

Good idea, let's cross a tree with a mammoth. I'd love to see what it looks like.

[Scazon]

They'll only grow carbon dates, which have a half-life of 5568 years, and will need to be calibrated before they can be eaten.