Arctic’s melting permafrost has yielded some amazing treasures
A trend of rising temperatures has led to long-extinct creatures, well preserved and near fully intact, being unearthed and casting new light on prehistoric eras. And one creature was still alive after 24,000 years.
By
Marianne Mizera, AccuWeather front page editor
While water blasting at a wall of frozen mud in Yukon, Canada, a gold miner made an extraordinary discovery: a perfectly preserved wolf pup that had been locked in permafrost for 57,000 years.
From a squirming microorganism awakened from its deep multi-millennial slumber to a pair of mummified lion cubs, fascinating discoveries of some of the most immaculately, remarkably preserved prehistoric creatures have been unearthed from permafrost over the past many decades, providing scientists with a unique window into life as it existed hundreds of thousands of years ago.
The permafrost encasing these buried treasures acts as a protective shield around them, ensuring they stay fairly intact over many centuries. It preserves nearly anything within it, including DNA. Permafrost is made of a combination of soil, rocks and sand that are bound together by ice that stays frozen all year long. Most of the remains unearthed had fur, teeth, skin, muscle tissue and organs still intact.
From gold miners to hunters to nature enthusiasts, many people have stumbled upon these spectacular finds as the climate warms and more and more permafrost thaws.
Here are some of the most intriguing discoveries:
In July 2016, gold miner Neil Loveless was water blasting a wall of frozen mud alongside a creek outside of Dawson City in the Yukon, Canada, when he hit a layer of thawing permafrost -- and a perfectly preserved Pleistocene gray wolf puppy, the most complete wolf mummy ever found.
Neil Loveless holds a preserved wolf pup, named Zhur, in a gold pan. While it wasn't what he had been mining for, the discovery was gold for paleontologists. (Government of Yukon)
In 2017 and 2018, two mummified cave lions were discovered by two local mammoth tusk collectors in the Siberian Arctic. One cub, nicknamed Sparta, is believed to be the “best-preserved Ice Age animal ever found.”
Sparta dates back about 28,000 years, while the male cub nicknamed “Boris” is more than 44,000 years old.
A 28,000-year-old extinct cave lion nicknamed "Sparta," which researchers say is the most well-preserved Ice Age animal ever unearthed. (Centre for Paleogenetics/Love Dalén)
Love Dalén
Too small to see with the naked eye, this 24,000-year-old freshwater microorganism had been snoozing in Siberian permafrost ever since the Late Stone Age - until it was awakened from its slumber.
Video released by the laboratory captured the wriggling movements of the tiny microorganism as it reemerged from its frozen state. (Soil Cryology Laboratory)
Still other bone hunters made a remarkable find in 2018: A 42,000-year-old foal from a crater in Siberia’s Verkhoyansk region. What made this rare was the discovery of liquid blood and urine as well as organs.
Researchers at North-Eastern Federal University study and complete an autopsy on the foal. Its organs and muscle tissue were "beautifully preserved," according to the scientists.
(North-Eastern Federal University)
This frozen creature, discovered in the Arctic Yakutia of Siberia in 2020, was believed to have drowned while being hunted by predators. About 80% of the remains were intact, including its nasal horn, a rarity, scientists said.
A carcass of a juvenile woolly rhinoceros, found in permafrost in August 2020 on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh River in the region of Yakutia in eastern Siberia, Russia. (Department for the Study of Mammoth Fauna of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)/Reuters)
Researcher Steven Emslie made an unexpected discovery when he stumbled across what appeared to be ancient and fresh remains of Adelie penguins at Cape Irizar, Ross Sea, Antarctica, during a research expedition in 2016.
"In all the years I have been doing this research in Antarctica, I've never seen a site quite like this,” Emslie said.
An 800-year-old penguin mummy revealed after snow and ice in Antarctica melted. (Steven Emslie)
This wolf, whose rich mammoth-like fur, impressive fangs and even tongue are still intact, was about 2 to 4 years old when it died.
In this Sept. 6, 2018, photo, the head of an Ice Age wolf is seen after it was found during an expedition in the Abyysky region of Sakha Republic, Russia. (Albert Protopopov/Mammoth Fauna Study Department at the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia via AP)
A one-of-a-kind bird believed to be the ancestor of the horned lark was also found in the Yakutia region of Siberia.
(Kennedy News/Love Dalén)
Scientists were able to revive cell activity from those extracted from this extinct young woolly mammoth named after the region where she was found in 2011, the village of Yukagir, Siberia.
The frozen carcass of a 39,000-year-old female woolly mammoth named Yuka from the Siberian permafrost is displayed for an exhibition in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo on July 12, 2013. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images)
This 36,000-year-old mummified Ice Age steppe bison was found in 1979 near Fairbanks, Alaska.
Uncovered during a mining operation, the carcass of this Alaska steppe bison named Blue Babe has revealed the story of the animal's Ice Age death to scientists at the University of Alaska Museum. (Wikimedia Commons)
This sensational discovery “is the first and only find of its kind” -- a whole bear carcass with soft tissue, say scientists. It was found on a Russian island in 2020.
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News / Weather News
Arctic’s melting permafrost has yielded some amazing treasures
A trend of rising temperatures has led to long-extinct creatures, well preserved and near fully intact, being unearthed and casting new light on prehistoric eras. And one creature was still alive after 24,000 years.
By Marianne Mizera, AccuWeather front page editor
While water blasting at a wall of frozen mud in Yukon, Canada, a gold miner made an extraordinary discovery: a perfectly preserved wolf pup that had been locked in permafrost for 57,000 years.
From a squirming microorganism awakened from its deep multi-millennial slumber to a pair of mummified lion cubs, fascinating discoveries of some of the most immaculately, remarkably preserved prehistoric creatures have been unearthed from permafrost over the past many decades, providing scientists with a unique window into life as it existed hundreds of thousands of years ago.
The permafrost encasing these buried treasures acts as a protective shield around them, ensuring they stay fairly intact over many centuries. It preserves nearly anything within it, including DNA. Permafrost is made of a combination of soil, rocks and sand that are bound together by ice that stays frozen all year long. Most of the remains unearthed had fur, teeth, skin, muscle tissue and organs still intact.
From gold miners to hunters to nature enthusiasts, many people have stumbled upon these spectacular finds as the climate warms and more and more permafrost thaws.
Here are some of the most intriguing discoveries:
Zhur, the wolf pup
In July 2016, gold miner Neil Loveless was water blasting a wall of frozen mud alongside a creek outside of Dawson City in the Yukon, Canada, when he hit a layer of thawing permafrost -- and a perfectly preserved Pleistocene gray wolf puppy, the most complete wolf mummy ever found.
Neil Loveless holds a preserved wolf pup, named Zhur, in a gold pan. While it wasn't what he had been mining for, the discovery was gold for paleontologists. (Government of Yukon)
Sparta and Boris, the lion cubs
In 2017 and 2018, two mummified cave lions were discovered by two local mammoth tusk collectors in the Siberian Arctic. One cub, nicknamed Sparta, is believed to be the “best-preserved Ice Age animal ever found.”
Sparta dates back about 28,000 years, while the male cub nicknamed “Boris” is more than 44,000 years old.
A 28,000-year-old extinct cave lion nicknamed "Sparta," which researchers say is the most well-preserved Ice Age animal ever unearthed. (Centre for Paleogenetics/Love Dalén)
The bdelloid rotifer
Too small to see with the naked eye, this 24,000-year-old freshwater microorganism had been snoozing in Siberian permafrost ever since the Late Stone Age - until it was awakened from its slumber.
Video released by the laboratory captured the wriggling movements of the tiny microorganism as it reemerged from its frozen state. (Soil Cryology Laboratory)
Foal in crater
Still other bone hunters made a remarkable find in 2018: A 42,000-year-old foal from a crater in Siberia’s Verkhoyansk region. What made this rare was the discovery of liquid blood and urine as well as organs.
Researchers at North-Eastern Federal University study and complete an autopsy on the foal. Its organs and muscle tissue were "beautifully preserved," according to the scientists.
Young woolly rhino
This frozen creature, discovered in the Arctic Yakutia of Siberia in 2020, was believed to have drowned while being hunted by predators. About 80% of the remains were intact, including its nasal horn, a rarity, scientists said.
A carcass of a juvenile woolly rhinoceros, found in permafrost in August 2020 on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh River in the region of Yakutia in eastern Siberia, Russia. (Department for the Study of Mammoth Fauna of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)/Reuters)
800-year-old penguin
Researcher Steven Emslie made an unexpected discovery when he stumbled across what appeared to be ancient and fresh remains of Adelie penguins at Cape Irizar, Ross Sea, Antarctica, during a research expedition in 2016.
"In all the years I have been doing this research in Antarctica, I've never seen a site quite like this,” Emslie said.
An 800-year-old penguin mummy revealed after snow and ice in Antarctica melted. (Steven Emslie)
Snarling wolf head
This wolf, whose rich mammoth-like fur, impressive fangs and even tongue are still intact, was about 2 to 4 years old when it died.
In this Sept. 6, 2018, photo, the head of an Ice Age wolf is seen after it was found during an expedition in the Abyysky region of Sakha Republic, Russia. (Albert Protopopov/Mammoth Fauna Study Department at the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia via AP)
Icebird specimen
A one-of-a-kind bird believed to be the ancestor of the horned lark was also found in the Yakutia region of Siberia.
(Kennedy News/Love Dalén)
Yuka, the little mammoth
Scientists were able to revive cell activity from those extracted from this extinct young woolly mammoth named after the region where she was found in 2011, the village of Yukagir, Siberia.
The frozen carcass of a 39,000-year-old female woolly mammoth named Yuka from the Siberian permafrost is displayed for an exhibition in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo on July 12, 2013. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images)
Blue Babe
This 36,000-year-old mummified Ice Age steppe bison was found in 1979 near Fairbanks, Alaska.
Uncovered during a mining operation, the carcass of this Alaska steppe bison named Blue Babe has revealed the story of the animal's Ice Age death to scientists at the University of Alaska Museum. (Wikimedia Commons)
Cave bear
This sensational discovery “is the first and only find of its kind” -- a whole bear carcass with soft tissue, say scientists. It was found on a Russian island in 2020.
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