Endangered species you wish zoos tried to preserve

Zygodactyl said:
Neat, thanks for the paper! And it's because I think ED species are generally more important to preserve. I consider the loss of the Carolina parakeet a greater loss than the loss of the heath hen and the loss of the Labrador duck a greater loss than either. Though the Labrador duck was more evolutionarily distinct than the passenger pigeon, the passenger pigeon was a keystone species and I consider it a greater loss.
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Yes, but that’s just restating the preference, again without giving a reason.

Arguably the main point in favour of incorporating ED into prioritization frameworks is that phylogenetic diversity is a correlate of functional diversity and evolutionary potential. My opinion, in case you’re interested, is that this assumption is context-dependent and we should be very wary of assuming any species is functionally redundant, particularly based on small, short-term datasets at limited spatial scales.
 
My argument is that taxonomically distinct species are more likely to provide us information about evolution and animal behavior we didn't even know we didn't know. That's also my argument for maintaining species with unusual adaptations, or which have filled unusual niches relative to most members of the clade, even if they're less evolutionarily distinct.
 
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