From an enormous dinosaur popsicle to an unfortunate puppy dog, here are 12 animals found frozen
in ice.
12.
Ancient Toothed Cat
Wild cats have been found in freezing habitats for thousands of years, maybe even longer.
Late last year, news outlets around the world reported on the discovery of an ice age saber-tooth
cat skull in Canada’s Yukon territory.
Found in the permafrost, the 50,000-year-old skull was so well-preserved that scientists
were even able to extract a DNA sample.
They identified the species as a scimitar-toothed cat, a little-studied variation of the saber-toothed
cat.
Further genetic analysis indicates that the powerfully-built animal had exceptionally
good eyesight and hunted during the day, chasing down prey until their target was too exhausted
to continue running.
The study’s authors wrote that the scimitar-toothed cat may have lived in small groups and might
have been more social than some modern cats that are known for being solitary, like snow
leopards, clouded leopards, and cheetahs.
A palaeo-geneticist who examined the skull, told the BBC that the species is extremely
rare in the fossil record, and that the scarcity of its bones may result from the cats living
outside permafrost regions, where most ice age fossils are discovered.
11.
Fighting Moose
Brad Webster and his friend were hunting in Alaska when they discovered two partially-frozen
bull moose in a frozen swamp, with their antlers intertwined.
The prevailing theory about what happened to the moose is that they were probably fighting
over territory or a female when one suffered a broken neck or was knocked unconscious,
taking the other moose down with it.
Unfortunately, they both lost the fight.
A few days later, Webster returned to the site with a few friends and tried removing
the moose carcasses from the ice, which proved impossible.
Instead, as a memento of the bizarre discovery, they removed the moose heads and brought them
back into town.
Webster stated plans to bleach the skulls and put the moose on display at the Covenant
Bible Camp where he teaches, with their antlers still intertwined.
What would you do if you found a discovery like this?
Would you report it?
Would you keep it?
Hang it on the wall?
Let me know in the comments below!!
10.
Infections
This isn’t an animal per se, but still scary!!
A teacher on an expedition to the Arctic Circle in early 2018 came face-to-face with bacteria
that posed a very real threat to his health.
Zac Peterson was helping archaeologists excavate an 800 year old log cabin in the Arctic Circle,
on the northern coast of Alaska.
Towards the end of the trip, he noticed a red spot on his leg.
He said that at first it was the size of a dime, but after a few days it grew to the
size of a softball!!
As he continued to monitor the spot, the skin infection rapidly spread, leading him to believe
he had picked up something preserved in the permafrost that had been stirred up when they
were working.
At the time, the team was uncovering frozen seals left behind by hunters at the site.
The animals began to thaw out and decompose and because Zac was as he says “kneeling
in defrosted marine mammal goo” he was treated for a seal finger infection.
The 800-year-old bacteria had gotten him too!!
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Many are afraid that there are tons of diseases on frozen ancient humans and animals that
have been so well preserved that when they thaw out, they might just jump onto us.
This includes smallpox, anthrax, and who knows what other illnesses ancient people may have
had.
9.
Antarctic Dinosaur
Paleontologists working on a mountain in Antarctica found what they described as an ice fossil
popsicle containing the remains of an enormous, previously unknown dinosaur!!
It was a type of sauropodomorph, which was the biggest thing on the block back then.
This guy is estimated to be 22 feet (7 m) long.
They had long necks and were herbivores, living in the early Jurassic era some 190 million
years ago!
This latest find was named ‘Glacialisaurus hammeri’ in honor of fossil hunter Prof.
William Hammer.
That’s pretty cool, to have a dinosaur named after you!!
What would you call your discovery??
It’s like a cool latin name and then your last name!
Let me know in the comments below!
The strange thing is that this massive G. Hammeri was encased in a popsicle made out
of rock as well as ice.
A dinosaur popsicle… who knew!!
The continent of Antarctica used to be part of what’s called the ‘Jurassic Freeway’.
It refers to a time when territories such as Africa and Australia were joined together
and dinos could simply walk between them.
It all ended when the land broke up and the climate changed.
Antarctica used to be a whole lot warmer and had the perfect climate for flora and fauna
to prosper so who knows what else is under the ice, waiting to be discovered!!
8.
Ancient Wolf Puppy
Gold miner Neil Loveless discovered a rather unexpected kind of “treasure” in 2016
when he used a water cannon to blast a permafrost wall open in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
He found an exceptionally preserved prehistoric wolf puppy.
Recognizing its potential scientific value, he sprang into action and placed the ancient
animal in a freezer while he contacted paleontologists and waited for them to arrive.
Nicknamed Zhur, which means “wolf” in the dialect of a local First Nations tribe,
the female specimen died at just seven weeks old around 57,000 years ago.
She is reportedly the oldest and most complete wolf mummy ever found.
Discoveries like this are especially rare outside Siberia, according to a study describing
the animal’s discovery!
In Siberia, preservation like this is fairly common because of the way the permafrost preserves
things there, which is way less common in the Yukon, Alaska, and other parts of North
America.
Zhur lived during a time in the region when glaciers temporarily retreated, replacing
frigid grasslands with milder woodlands.
A DNA analysis revealed that she came from a genetically distinct group of wolves that
no longer exist in the area, who were related to both Alaskan and Eurasian populations.
The pup met her untimely demise when her den collapsed.
However tragic, the quick burial helped keep her remarkably well-preserved.
Now scientists are debating on whether or not they should try bringing this species
back to life!!
What do you think?
Would you want to see a 57,000 year old wolf pup??
Let me know in the comments below!!
And now for number 7 but first wanted to say a big thank you to Ubaldo Myers and Jena Mateo,
thanks so much for watching and supporting this channel!!
Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already for more videos like these!!!
7.
Alligators
When record-breaking cold temperatures swept across the U.S. earlier this year,, many animals
tragically died because they were not biologically equipped to handle the unusual conditions.
But some species lucked out, including alligators.
The cold-blooded creatures look very much dead in images that appeared on social media,
which show their snouts poking through the ice in several wildlife parks from South Carolina
to Oklahoma.
When temperatures drop dangerously low, alligators enter a hibernation-like state called brumation,
or “icing.”
Unlike warm-blooded animals that get hypothermia, as the alligator’s metabolic rates plummet,
they become lethargic and sort of freeze in place to conserve energy.
The animals stick their snouts above water to ensure that they will continue to breathe
through brief periods of freezing weather.
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation employee David Arbour said the gators won’t
freeze if the water stays liquid.
Their snouts are just cartilage so freezing doesn’t hurt their snouts … They can still
move and are aware of things.
6.
Turkish Donkeys
A herd of donkeys were left outside in a rural village called Siverek in Southeastern Turkey.
This region was experiencing some of the harshest winter temperatures in the country.
Luckily for them a news crew noticed their predicament and filmed the ice-covered herd,
some of which had long, thick icicles attached to their fur.
A rescue team then came to their aid and some of the poor little guys had to be carried
because they couldn’t walk.
5 of the unfortunate animals survived.
They were taken to the animal shelter where they were fed and checked by a vet.
The rescue team is on the lookout for other animals abandoned in the frozen conditions.
5.
Kilimanjaro Leopard In 1926 a Lutheran pastor was out for a walk
on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.
He was 18,500 ft (5638 m) up the volcano so he must have been in pretty good shape!!
While up in the cold and high elevation, he encountered the frozen remains of one of nature’s
true predators, a leopard.
The pastor reported that he saw the dead remains of a goat as well, so the leopard must have
been chasing it before meeting his icy fate.
From that point on the area was given the nickname of ‘Leopard Point’.
The story must have inspired author Ernest Hemingway who told a similar tale in his short
story ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’ in 1936.
The pastor returned in 1927 to see how his frozen friend was doing and decided to keep
the big cat’s ear as a memento.
Is it just me or is that kind of weird?
Or is it some sort of trophy?
Let me know what you think in the comments below!!
4.
Frogs
To survive the brutal winters of the American Midwest, New York State, and several other
regions around the world, numerous frog species rely on what scientists call “Mother nature’s
antifreeze”.
In order to survive the frogs will actually freeze themselves and they will enter a hibernation-like
state called estivation.
Ice crystals form inside their bodies and under their skin while their blood glucose
spikes in response to the cold, causing the creatures to freeze but remain alive, despite
appearing dead.
“Their heart rate stops.
There’s no muscle movement, there’s no measurable brain activity, there’s no breathing,”
AmeriCorps Naturalist and Research Coordinator Jimmy Wiebler explained in an interview.
This dormant state is life-saving for certain frogs, who are unable to tolerate freezing
conditions in their normal state of being, by sparing them from tissue damage that would
otherwise kill them.
When spring arrives and temperatures warm, estivating frogs simply thaw out and resume
life as usual, as if they were simply on pause for an extended period.
By then, it’s usually mating season, putting finding a partner at the top of the creatures’
to-do list.
Researchers believe that the spike in blood sugar that helps frogs safely freeze and thaw
could potentially be useful in treating diabetes.
3.
Hippopotamus
With changing global temperatures, animals living in typically warm places sometimes
have to face extreme blasts of winter cold!
Just like the alligators from the Swamp Park in North Carolina, hippos at zoos and at parks
also have to face the cold but can easily die from hypothermia.
As you can see here (THUMBNAIL) this poor hippo didn’t make it.
Hippos are native to sub-Saharan Africa and are usually more worried about staying cool
than keeping warm, that’s why they are always in the water and the mud.
But if they are at a park or a zoo hit by a cold front, there is nothing they can do.
If the water freezes, they will definitely freeze too.
Hypothermia is a severe condition where the body temperature drops after being in the
cold for a very long time.
The body can’t produce enough heat and the body begins to direct the blood flow to the
most vital organs but if the body temperature keeps falling, the organs will begin to fail
and the animal will die.
2.
A Live Dog
Not all of the animals discovered frozen in Siberia are ancient specimens from thousands
of years ago.
Earlier this year, a stray dog got stuck in ice amid beyond-freezing temperatures that
hit as low as -65.2 degrees Fahrenheit (-54 Celsius) in the village of Churapcha.
It was the harshest winter that Siberia’s Yakutia region had experienced in a decade.
That's saying a lot!!
A hospital worker heard a creature desperately crying for help and found the little dog clinging
to life by a thread!!
The quick-thinking hero alerted other locals, who rushed to the canine’s aid and dug her
out of the ice using crowbars.
Once they freed the dog, they took her inside to warm up and feed her.
A local veterinarian who bandaged the dog discovered a tag in her ear identifying her
as a stray who was neutered, vaccinated, and released at an earlier point in time.
Thankfully, she was not seriously injured or frostbitten, but turning her back out into
the cold was certainly not an option.
The kindhearted woman who discovered the dog went the extra mile with her good deeds and
decided to adopt the pup.
Now that she has a loving forever home, she will never have to worry about being stranded
in the life-threatening cold again.
1.
Woolly Rhino
Last August, a local resident discovered the shockingly well-preserved remains of a juvenile
woolly rhinoceros peeking out from the thawing permafrost by a river in Siberia’s Sakha
Republic.
It looked pretty good for having been there thousands of years!!
Its teeth, horn, limbs, some of its intestines and other internal organs, fat, tissues, and
fur were still intact, giving scientists an unprecedented opportunity to study the extinct
species.
The poor rhino was left where it was even after it was discovered, as scientists waited
for the formation of seasonal ice roads so they could actually take it to a research
facility.
Life in these cold areas is no joke!!
It was between three and four years old when it died -- most likely by drowning -- somewhere
between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.
When it was found the scientists noticed wear marks on the rhino’s horn, suggesting that
it used its horn to gather food.
Its thick, short undercoat indicates that it passed away during summer, and that the
species adapted to the cold at a young age.
Scientists are conducting a radiocarbon analysis to determine the precise age of the remains
and they are hoping to extract a DNA sample so that they can conduct a genetic analysis.
And maybe, just maybe, bring the species back to life!!
Thanks for watching!!
Have you ever found anything in the ice or snow?
What's the coldest place you've ever been to??
Let me know in the comments below!!