Posted on 09/14/2020 11:09:06 AM PDT by SJackson
Separately at least one preserved carcass of a cave bear cub found on the mainland of Yakutia, with scientists hopeful of obtaining its DNA.
More details of the finds are to be announced soon.
Until now only the bones of cave bears have been discovered.
The new finds are of ‘world importance’, according to one of Russia’s leading experts on extinct Ice Age species.
Scientist Lena Grigorieva said of the island discovery of the adult beast: 'Today this is the first and only find of its kind - a whole bear carcass with soft tissues.
'It is completely preserved, with all internal organs in place including even its nose.
“Previously, only skulls and bones were found. This find is of great importance for the whole world.’
The remains were found by reindeer herders on the island and the remains will be analysed by scientists at the North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk, which is at the forefront of research into extinct woolly mammoths and rhinos.
Russian and foreign colleagues will be invited to join the study.
The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) is a prehistoric species or subspecies that lived in Eurasia in the Middle and Late Pleistocene period and became extinct about 15,000 years ago.
According to the rough preliminary suggestions the bear could live in Karginsky interglacial (this was the period between 22,000 and 39,500 years).
'It is necessary to carry out radiocarbon analysis to determine the precise age of the bear,’ said senior researcher Maxim Cheprasov from the Mammoth Museum laboratory in Yakutsk.
The finder transferred the right to research to the scientists of NEFU, he said.
Recent years have seen major discoveries of mammoths, woolly rhinos, Ice Age foal, several puppies and Cave Lion cubs as the permafrost melts in Siberia.
Lena Grigorieva, first from the left, leading researcher of the International Centre for Collective Use of Molecular Paleontology at the NEFU’s Institute of Applied Ecology of the North. Lena is pictured by the carcass of a 42,000 year old foal found inside the Batagai depression in Yakutia
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Ping
Ping
Did they find Luke’s lightsaber?
Ayla? Jondalar? Creb?
Looks like a female denned up with young? Maybe there was a cave in that suffocated them?
Ping.
She looks a little sickly, they ought to get her to a Vet ASAP.
In Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago” he describes an incident where the Soviet authorities accidentally let out some information about the reality of the gulag. It involved some miners (obviously prisoners) who discovered an ancient newt frozen in the ice. Pravda said the newt was so well preserved “the minors devoured it with relish”. Solzhenitsyn asked the question, “How hungry do you have to be to eat an old frozen newt enthusiastically?”
I am going to assume that since the bear’s discoverers didn’t immediately tuck into the frozen bear, that things are better in Russia now.
BLM
Bear Lives Matter...even cave Bears!
Man bear pig. It’s cereal.
From the preliminary findings, Jondular was quite well endowed.
This is amazing!
Well, don’t just stand there. Extract some DNA. Jam it into some donor egg cells. We can totally do a Quaternary Park.
I was thing get the research crew from Jurassic Park, but you are much more accurate. This looks like they could make a real attempt at bringing back an extinct species
I thoroughly enjoyed reading that series of books in the mid-80’s. The movie version of Clan of the Cave Bear sucked tho, IMO.
Ha! I think Jean Auel was in love with Jondular, what with the way she often referred to his manhood.
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