most genetic differences happen on the biochemical level, i.e. different hormones and metabolism. superficial appearance is only a (very) small part of what defines a species. so i guess the answer is: not really, no.
Haha … but seriously … does it? I don’t think so. Now if they brought back that rhino species that just went extinct that would count.
I wouldn’t call it de-extinction unless they made something that is 100% identical genetically to the thing they are bringing back.
And they don’t have 100% of the dire wolf DNA sequenced, nor do they have DNA of the dire wolf’s extinct ancestor between it and Canis lupus. It’s a grey wolf with genes from a dire wolf added in.
Would they be able to do it with god-like perfection, or would it only be a grey wolf that resembles our idea of dire wolves based only on what we’ve been able to learn?
They did have the genome, right? Why not just clone that? They could then add mutations in the amount that normally occurs in grey wolf populations to get a sufficiently diverse population going.
