Still perfectly preserved, it also has fur “and even a mustache”, explain the researchers who have been carrying out research on the animal for years.
It is difficult to understand that this lion lying on a work table is 28 thousand years old. Yet «Sparta», as the cave lion cub found in Siberia in 2018 was called, has remained perfectly preserved in the permafrost for all this (very long) time. It is a prehistoric species, present in the Eurasia region in the Pleistocene era. The baby was probably one or two months old when he died. Impressive how it has been preserved: the mane is almost intact “and there is also a mustache,” added the researchers who discovered it. Mummified, but teeth, skin and internal organs are still in excellent condition.
“Sparta” died at one or two months of life
The Panthera spelaea specimen has a fur characterized by a color ranging from gray to light brown. Among other information gleaned from scholars there are the “flattened” hind and fore limbs, as well as the slightly deformed skull. 80% of the puppies, in that period, died before the two months of life for various causes, for predators or for lack of food for example. For its perfect conservation, like the Stockholm Center for Paleogenetics writes on Twitter, Sparta “is probably among the best preserved ice age animals ever found.”
This CAVE LION cub is arguably the best preserved #iceage animal ever found!
It’s name is Sparta.
In a paper published today with colleagues from ?? ?? & ??, we use DNA & 14C to show that it’s a female cub that died c 28,000 years ago.
Read more here:https://t.co/Vc2VI7VFfJ pic.twitter.com/NkXTFCvsyB
— Centre for Palaeogenetics (@CpgSthlm) August 4, 2021
What is permafrost
The cub was found in the permafrost, completely frozen ground typical of the regions ranging from Northern Europe, Siberia and North America (between Alaska and Canada). Some permafrost areas can also be found in the Alps, above 2600 meters. In practice, it is what remains of the last ice age that has been preserved to this day. Thanks to the very low temperatures of the soil, the finds of prehistoric animals often take place in the permafrost.
August 13, 2021 (change August 14, 2021 | 07:23)
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