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39,000 Year Old Cave Bear Remains Discovered In Permafrost In Siberia

39,000 Year Old Cave Bear Remains Discovered In Permafrost In Siberia

The remains are so well preserved that even the animal's fur is intact

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

A 39,000 year old cave bear has been thawed out of the permafrost in Siberia.

In actual fact, the archaeologists discovered two perfectly preserved bears - a mother and a cub - inside the wall of ice.

Russian scientists have already described the find as of 'world importance'.

Until this discovery, the only evidence of cave bears that had been found were bones, but these ones are so well preserved that they've still got fur, and the mother can be seen to be baring her teeth.

East2West News

Cave bears are a prehistoric species or sub-species that lived on the Eurasian continent between 300,000 and 15,000 years ago.

It's been a long time since one has been seen properly like this.

Because it has been packed in permafrost for so long, even the soft tissue of the bear - scientifically known as Ursus Spelaeus - has remained through the passing of nearly 40,000 years.

This means that the scientists, who you might remember have made plans to attempt to bring the woolly mammoth back to life, are hopeful that they'll be able to find some DNA for this Ice Age beast.

East2West News

Dr Lena Grigorieva said: :"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.

"Photographs show the bear's nose is intact.

"Previously, only skulls and bones were found."

Speaking to The Siberian Times, she continued: "This find is of great importance for the whole world."

East2West News

The actual bragging rights for the discovery go to some reindeer herders who found the bears on a remote island, but they'll be taken for examination at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, which is where the world-leading research into mammoths and rhinos is taking place.

It's also the coldest city in the world, but that's not important right now.

The scientists will be inviting boffins from around the globe to assist them in the hope that they can better understand this forgotten creature.

Incidentally, we aren't completely sure how old the remains are, but they're thought to be between 22,000 and 39,500 years old.

East2West News

Old enough, basically.

Dr Maxim Cheprasov, senior researcher and candidate of biological sciences at the Mammoth Museum laboratory in Yakutsk, said: "It is necessary to carry out radiocarbon analysis to determine the precise age of the bear,"

In recent years, the permafrost has yielded the remains of woolly mammoths, woolly rhinos, and other extinct species as it thaws.

Featured Image Credit: East2West News

Topics: Science, World News, Interesting, History, Weird, Animals, Russia