From long lost wolf puppies to dangerous toxic spores, here are 8 amazing (and sometimes
scary things) found frozen in ice!!
8.
Foal
Earlier this year, in 2018, researchers announced the discovery of a perfectly preserved foal
found frozen in the ice!
The baby horse, which was uncovered from the melting permafrost in Siberia, was found with
its hooves, tail, and skin still perfectly intact, along with the tiny hairs in its nostrils!
This foal is estimated to have died between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago.
The remains were discovered by paleontologists during an expedition to Yakutia in eastern
Siberia, inside the 328-foot-deep Batagaika crater.
Grigory Savvinov, deputy head of the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Russia, told
the Siberian Times that the foal may have drowned after falling into “some kind of
natural trap” and that it was probably just around two months old when it died.
Samples of the foal’s hair and tissue were collected by scientists for testing.
According to Semyon Grigoryev, director of the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk, the young horse’s
bowel contents will be examined by researchers to determine its diet.
But besides all that, it is the best-preserved ancient foal found to date!!
The foal belonged to an extinct species called the Lena horse, which is a mystery because
it is genetically distinct from all other modern-day wild horses that roam Yakutia!
Chinese and Russian scientists are now working on bringing back the extinct Lena horse.
Due to the continuous rise in global temperatures, the permafrost has been melting more in recent
years, leading to the emergence of amazingly preserved remains of animals from tens of
thousands of years ago, especially in Siberia.
But who knows what all is hidden in the ice!
Some things we don’t want coming back…
7.
Prehistoric Worms
2018 was a very eventful year for the discovery and investigation of ancient animals found
in the Siberian permafrost!!
This is fascinating but kind of a scary indicator of just how fast ice is melting….
In July, scientists announced that two nematodes, or microscopic worms that live in the soil,
had been brought back to life in a Petri dish after being suspended in a deep freeze in
the Siberian permafrost for 42,000 years!!
The same worms were actually brought back to life!!!
After carefully thawing the ice that had surrounded the roundworms since the days of the woolly
mammoth, scientists at the Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, located
near Moscow, coaxed them back into existence.
Researchers witnessed the worms moving and eating, and according to the study, this marked
the first evidence of “natural cryo-preservation” of multicellular animals.
A team of Russian researchers and geoscientists from Princeton University in New Jersey had
found the two suitable candidates by analyzing over 300 worms.
One of the worms had been discovered in 2015 near the Alazeya River in Yakutia, eastern
Siberia, and was believed to be 41,700 years old.
The other, which was 32,000 years old, was taken in 2002 near northeastern Siberia’s
Kolyma River.
The successful experiment represents a scientific breakthrough in the cryonics and astrobiology
fields, demonstrating that multi-cellular organisms have the potential to withstand
the test of time when preserved in ice.
Cryonics, a study that has largely been considered to be more a product of science fiction than
actual science, aims to suspend people in time by freezing their bodies.
We are closer to this becoming a reality than you might have thought!!
And now for number 6 but first if you are new here welcome!!
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6.
Lion Cubs
In Russia in late 2017, a local resident of Russia’s far northeastern Yakutia region,
officially known as the Sakha Republic, discovered the remains of a one-year-old cub in September.
This baby big cat was a cave lion, which is believed to have died out about 10,000 years
ago.
Until this most recent discovery, scientists based their knowledge almost entirely on bones
and tracks.
Two years earlier, two similarly intact frozen cubs had been found.
Named Uyan and Dina, the 12,000-year-old remains of the two cubs were an amazing find for the
scientific community.
The more recently discovered cub was handed over for examination to Albert Protopopov,
a paleontologist at Russia’s Republic Academy of Science, who had also studied Uyan and
Dina.
This little cub named Boris was found on the bank of a river in perfect condition.
He is believed to have been between 6 to 8 weeks old when he died.
Tufts of fur still protrude from the cub’s compact, gray remains, which are roughly the
size of an adult’s forearm.
Most remarkably, the cub’s face can still be seen resting on one of its paws.
Earlier this year in 2018, another cub was found near the same place as Boris and is
believed to be his long lost brother.
Named Spartak, this kitten has fur and a long tail that has all remained intact.
Boris and Spartak most likely belonged to the same family since they were found so close
to each other and may have died in an avalanche.
A team of international scientists are working on finding more remains of ancient animals
and they are looking to clone the species back to life.
5.
CARIBOU CALF & WOLF PUP
Canada’s Yukon territory is dominated by heavy forest cover, but it was once a freezing
tundra.
In Dawson City, in September of this year, scientists announced the discovery of two
Ice Age creatures from the Yukon permafrost, a caribou calf and a wolf pup.
Despite having died thousands of years ago, the animals’ fur, skin, and muscles were
almost completely intact.
These rare finds were unearthed by gold miners.
Radiocarbon dating has traced the impressive remains back to over 50,000 years ago!!
Paleontologist Grant Zazula stressed the importance of the discoveries, telling the Canadian Press
that the wolf cub is the only one of its kind that has ever been discovered.
And he says that the specimens are amongst the oldest examples of mummified mammal soft
tissue in the entire world.
Researchers are amazed at the pristine condition of the wolf pup, which is the better-preserved
of the two specimens.
It has everything from its fur to its tail and curled upper lip.
It is believed to have died at around eight weeks old but perhaps because of our close
human relationship with dogs over the years, the scientists have said they feel a close
connection to it, even though it is so old.
Despite being in worse condition, the caribou is still valuable to the scientific community,
because of its intact skin, muscles, and hair.
The discovery of the wolf and caribou came as welcome news to Canadian scientists.
They rival any recent finds in Siberia’s Yakutia region, which is known for its seemingly
endless abundance of prehistoric animal remains.
4.
Anthrax Spores
Remember how I said there are some things we don’t want coming back??
Anthrax spores is one of those things!!
In 2016, there was a zombie outbreak.
While this might sound strange, there was an unusual heatwave in western Siberia, causing
all kinds of things to thaw out.
Including a frozen reindeer that had been hidden in the ice for 75 years.
This reindeer had fallen victim to zombie anthrax, a common bacteria found in the wilderness
all over the world.
After being dormant all this time, the melting ice allowed the spores to be released once
more, causing havoc and killing more than 2,000 reindeer.
Members of the indigenous Nenet community had to be relocated.
The spores spread through the soil, and as the animals graze, they pick up the bacteria
which spreads like wildfire in the animal’s blood.
The bacteria needs a rotting host in order to create spores which can then spread some
more.
Humans most likely pick it up from eating infected animals.
Now there are vaccines and antibiotics which are very effective in treating the infection,
but it is scary to think what other dormant diseases lie hidden in the permafrost, biding
their time as the ice melts?
3.
Pygmy Woolly Mammoth
A pygmy woolly mammoth carcass that was unearthed in Siberia during August of this year could
be evidence of a new species of ‘mini-mammoth’.
According to experts, the remains, which were discovered on Kotelny Island, could be nearly
50,000 years old.
The striking color of its fur earned the animal the nickname of ‘Golden mammoth’.
Its diminutive stature has led some to believe that it may be a member of an unknown species.
At roughly seven feet tall, the adult carcass measures less than half the height of a “normal”
woolly mammoth.
One of its tusks is fully intact, and the other has been severed.
It has not been unearthed and is only visible at low tide on Kotelny Island.
Dr. Albert Protopopov, the renowned paleontologist who also studied the remains of the prehistoric
lion cubs that I was telling you about, stresses that the carcass is that of an adult, not
a baby, and stated plans for the remains to be excavated in the near future.
Until this discovery, the only other remains of ‘mini-mammoths’ that had been discovered
were just bones.
Protopopov theorizes that stunted mammoths once occupied the remote islands upon which
their remains have since been found.
He believes that the recently-discovered carcass comes from the heydey of the woolly mammoth,
when significantly rising numbers of the animal led to their greatest-ever diversity.
During the last Ice Age, Krotelny was connected to the Siberian mainland.
Despite the area’s status as a well-known mammoth necropolis, the recent find is extremely
“unique.”
2.
Sasha the Rhino
In 2014, the 10,000-year-old remains of a woolly rhinoceros were dug up in the Siberian
region of Yakutia.
Although scientists are unsure of its gender, they named the rhino “Sasha” after the
person who discovered it.
Researchers were originally baffled by how the perfectly-preserved one-and-a-half year-old
rhino died.
Upon further examination, they noticed that Sasha’s nostrils were filled with mud, indicating
that it had tragically drowned.
Scientists have uncovered some surprises from studying the specimen.
For one, Sasha’s thick, strawberry-blonde curls are nothing like the grey shade of today’s
African white rhinos.
When the animal died it was the size of a modern-day rhino at just eighteen months old!
(INCLUDE SIZE COMPARISON PICTURE HERE IN VID)
Because of this, scientists suspect that past species were much larger than those who currently
inhabit various parts of the globe, including Africa.
Prior to the discovery of Sasha, scientists could only speculate about certain things,
including the thickness of their hair, based on cave drawings.
Scientist Valery Plotnikov credits the discovery of Sasha with the finding that woolly rhinos
had “very thick hair.”
Surprise!!
The Senior Researcher of the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
notes the strongly differing conditions between modern-day Yakutia and the much colder and
drier climate that prehistoric animals such as Sasha survived in.
Sasha’s once-frozen remains have been embalmed and returned to their real-life appearance.
1.
Otzi the Iceman
I can’t have a list about amazing things found frozen in ice without including Otzi!
As you may know by now, he is the world’s oldest natural human mummy!!
Otzi died high in what is now the Italian Alps at the age of 45 and remained preserved
in the ice for over 5,300 years!!
Since before the construction of the pyramids.
The Copper Age mummy was discovered in 1991 with a bronze axe in his hand - an artifact
that was considered to be extremely valuable at the time of his death.
His clothing, weapons, and tools offer a rare glimpse into the life of this prehistoric
man.
The hikers who found him in the snow got quite the scare though, since they thought he was
a recent victim.
Otzi’s body was so well-preserved that we can even see his leather medicine pouch, tattoos,
piercings, you name it.
He’s covered in more than 50 tattoos, made by rubbing charcoal into small skin incisions,
which also may have been a form of early medicine.
All of Otzi’s tattoos were found on parts of his body that endured wear and tear, such
as his ankles, wrists, knees, lower back, and Achilles tendon.
Therefore, it’s likely that his tattoos were therapeutic, rather than symbolic or
decorative.
Otzi suffered from a host of medical issues, including gallstones, hardened arteries, worn
joints, and a growth on his little toe, possibly caused by frostbite.
High levels of arsenic were detected in Otzi’s system, most likely as the result of working
with metal ores and copper extraction.
He also probably had Lyme disease, as indicated by the discovery inflammation, and of parasitic
worm eggs in his gut, and suffered from advanced gum disease and tooth decay.
Poor guy can't catch a break!!
Otzi’s health problems don’t end there.
Some researchers believe he may have been infertile.
He also lacked wisdom teeth and a twelfth pair of ribs, and had a gap between his teeth
known as a diastema.
Despite his health issues, Otzi was tough and ultimately succumbed to a blow to the
head.
Scientists now think Otzi was on the run for some reason and was attacked.
Prior to the discovery of Otzi, archaeologists had never seen Copper Age tattoos.
Or such early evidence of acupuncture.
It was previously thought that acupuncture for conditions such as rheumatism, distress,
and arthritis emerged in Asia some 2,000 years later.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Otzi has present-day relatives, nineteen of which reside in Austria.
A study led by Walther Parson at Innsbruck Medical University showed that those nineteen
individuals shared a common ancestor from 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, based on the presence
of a genetic mutation known as G-L91.
Pretty cool huh?!!
Who knows who might be in your family history!!!
Thanks for watching!
Which one of these was your favorite???
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Byeeeee