Six years ago, scientists discovered a remarkably preserved cave lion cub in Siberias permafrost.
Despite 28,000 years since its death, the cub remained in near-perfect condition by the frozen soil.
The saber-tooth cat, unearthed in 2020, is only now being scientifically described.
An image of the saber-tooth cat cub.Image: Lopatin et al., Scientific Reports 2024
The teams findings werepublishedthis week in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.
These characters cannot be seen on skeleton remains.
The mummys skull was slightly deformed, but its well-preserved right side allowed the team to reconstruct its shape.
Left: A photo of the mummy Right: a scan revealing its skeleton. Image: Lopatin et al., Scientific Reports 2024
The cub is an indicator of how adultHomotheriumsdistinguishable by their short bodies and comparatively long legstake shape.
The muscles, bones and skin are well preserved in the permafrost ice, Lopatin said.
DNA can be extracted, and this is one of the next stages of our research.
Pulling genetic information from specimens preserved by permafrost is in vogue, and for good reason.
The unique preservation conditions mean that genetic material can stay intact for tens of thousands of years.
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