r/FaroeIslands

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I've recently been reading about the hvítravnur — the famous black-and-white raven that once lived in the Faroe Islands. The last known one was killed in 1902, and today only museum specimens remain.

What I find fascinating is that the hvítravnur wasn't actually a separate species. It was a colour variation of the Faroese raven, apparently caused by an inherited mutation. Ordinary Faroese ravens are still here.

That made me wonder: could we bring the hvítravnur back?

There are surviving specimens in museums around Europe, and modern techniques can recover DNA from old bird skins. In theory, researchers could:

Sequence DNA from several original hvítravnur specimens.

Sequence living Faroese ravens.

Identify the mutation responsible for the distinctive white-speckled plumage.

Check whether that mutation is still hiding as a recessive allele in today's raven population.

The fourth point is especially interesting. If the allele still exists, it might theoretically be possible to recover the phenotype through carefully managed breeding rather than genetic engineering.

If the mutation has disappeared completely, things get much more difficult. But organisations such as Revive & Restore and researchers working on avian primordial germ cells are already developing genetic-rescue techniques for birds. Colossal is also working on avian de-extinction/genetic rescue, including the dodo and pink pigeon.

So perhaps the first goal shouldn't be "bring back the hvítravnur."

It could simply be a Hvítravnur Genome Project: sequence the historic birds, identify what made them white, and find out whether that piece of Faroese genetic history really disappeared.

Even if restoration turned out to be impossible, we'd learn something unique about Faroese natural history and preserve the genetic information for the future.

And if the mutation is still hiding among our ravens...

Well, that would be incredible.

I'd genuinely love to see a Faroese institution or international conservation-genetics organisation investigate this.

What do you think? Would restoring the hvítravnur be worthwhile, or should an extinct colour morph be left in history?

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