Researchers just released that two of the most well-preserved Ice Age lion cubs were discovered in Siberian permafrost. They identified the two cubs as cave lions in a research paper published on August 4, 2021.
Cave lions lived across Europe and Asia until their extinction around 10,000 years ago. These two specimens are particularly important due to their well-preserved state. Finding these cave lions lets us discover new things about extinct species, such as the color of their fur. Frozen animals often have excellent DNA preservation, letting us investigate the genomes of extinct animals.
Boris, the male cub, was found in 2017 when Boris Berezhnev, a local resident and licensed mammoth tusk collector, was searching for mammoth tusks along the Semyuelyakh River in Siberia. The cub is around 43,448 years old.
Just a year later, in 2018, researchers found a female cub about 15 meters away. Researchers named her Sparta, and she is roughly 27,962 years old. Both cubs were discovered around 10 to 12 meters deep and are around the size of an adult house cat. The cubs were only one or two months old when they were mummified.
