Ross MacPhee

Curator, Department of Mammalogy, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History

Dr. Ross MacPhee is the former chairman of the Department of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History, where he has been curator since 1988. Known for his paleomammalogical research on island extinctions, he has focused his most recent work on extinctions occurring during the past 50,000 years, or “Near Time.” He is the author of the new book “End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World’s Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals” (Norton, 2019). Dr. MacPhee has also collaborated with geneticists and molecular biologists to develop the new tool of “ancient DNA” for studying the ultimate collapse of Pleistocene mammals.

Debates Featuring Ross MacPhee

Don't Bring Extinct Creatures Back to Life

With Stewart Brand, George Church, Ross MacPhee, Lynn J. Rothschild
January 31, 2019

De-extinction describes the process of creating an organism which is a member of, or closely resembles, an extinct species. While this process was once a sci-fi fantasy explored in films like “Jurassic Park,” recent biological and technological breakthroughs indicate that reviving extinct creatures, like the passenger pigeon and the woolly mammoth, could become a reality. De-extinction’s proponents argue that the benefits are many, including correcting mistakes of the past by bringing back extinct ecosystems and organisms and helping to curb…

Don't Bring Extinct Creatures Back to Life

With Stewart Brand, George Church, Ross MacPhee, Lynn J. Rothschild
January 31, 2019

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Ross MacPhee

Debates Featuring Ross MacPhee

Don't Bring Extinct Creatures Back to Life

Don't Bring Extinct Creatures Back to Life

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