Surprise in Siberia! From the permafrost emerges a perfectly preserved cave lion cub who died 28.000 years ago

Sparta is a cave lion cub that emerged from the permafrost in Siberia. Although he died 28 thousand years ago, his body is intact

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

The cave lion cub that emerged from the permafrost in Siberia was renamed Sparta. And according to scientists it is one of the best preserved prehistoric animals ever.

At first glance it looks like he's asleep, but he's actually dead about 28.000 years ago. What concerns Sparta, a cub of cave lioness, is an unprecedented discovery for this prehistoric species, present in the Eurasia region in the Pleistocene era. Her little body emerged in 2018 from the permafrost of the Siberia, which has preserved and protected it for centuries. But only recently have researchers investigated its history and its incredible state of conservation.

Very happy to be part of this nice paper, which was led by Alexey Tikhonov and several other Russian friends and…

Posted by Love Dalén on Thursday, August 5, 2021

Sparta is probably the best preserved ice age animal ever found, and is more or less intact, apart from the slightly matted fur - said Love Dalén, co-author of the new international study published a couple of days ago in the journal Quarternary. - He even kept his mustache.

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

Read also: 57.000-year-old wolf pup found frozen in Canada's permafrost

The details of the find

According to investigations conducted by researchers, the Panthera spelaea found was one or two months old when it died. Sparta has a fur (which has been perfectly maintained) characterized by a color ranging from greyish to light brown.

At the time of the discovery, the Sparta lion cub was lying on the right side, with the body flattened in a lateral-medial direction. - the research reads - The hind limbs (at the level of a distal end of the tibia) and the tail seem to have suffered the most pressure since these are the most flattened parts of the body. The skull is slightly deformed, the mouth open, and the forelimbs are bent at the joints of the elbows and wrists. The hind limbs and tail are straightened and parallel to each other. The stomach is sucked up, most likely from dehydration of the internal organs and muscles. The eyes are closed.

Surprise in Siberia! From the permafrost emerges a perfectly preserved cave lion cub who died 28.000 years ago

@Quarternary

But Sparta isn't the only cave lion cub found in that part of the Siberian Arctic. In 2017, a resident of the area had discovered another puppy, this time a male, a few meters away from the spot where Sparta was found. At first, the researchers thought they were brothers, but thanks to more in-depth studies, the lion nicknamed Boris has turned out to be much "older". According to radiocarbon dating, the cub died about 43.000 years ago. However, unlike the female specimen, the latter has not been perfectly preserved and its body is more damaged.

Visual observation of Boris's body showed that it was damaged in parts. A patch of skin is separated near the nose and the distal part of the tail is missing "- the scholars explain - However, we have not been able to accurately check the skin conditions of the cave lion cubs by eye due to their thick fur. . We then examined Sparta's skin using computed tomography. There are no visible skin lesions, but the skin is heavily mummified. There are many unnatural wrinkles and deformations on the skin. The ears are flattened towards the muzzle.

The probable causes of death

But why did the two cave lions die so young? The causes of their death can be multiple according to the researchers, who exclude that they were killed by other species hunting for prey.

The main threats facing cave lion cubs are likely food shortages, predators or adult male lions that are unrelated to them - it is clarified in the study - As a result, at least 80% of lions die before. reach the age of two. It is very difficult to identify which of these threats, if any, are most likely to be responsible for the deaths of Boris and Sparta, or if they died from falling and being trapped in the place where they were found.

Now the next step for scientists will be the sequencing of Sparta's DNA, which could reveal new interesting data on the evolutionary history of the cave lion, starting with the size of the specimens and their genetic characteristics.

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Fonti: Quarternary/University of Stockholm