A perfectly frozen cave lion cub As the melting of the permafrost in Siberia continues a spate of we
A perfectly frozen cave lion cubAs the melting of the permafrost in Siberia continues a spate of well preserved mammals have been emerging from their boggy tomb including several mammoths (see http://on.fb.me/1XrGhpF and http://on.fb.me/1XrGhpF). This summer a pair of well preserved baby felines has emerged, the best specimens ever found. The images were released today in preparation for a press conference next month where their research will be presented. The condition of the felid’s DNA has not been released, but the species has been extinct some 10,000 years. At the end of the ice age a much wider diversity of big cats roamed the world than the pitiful remnants of today, and these specimens will give us useful insights into these elusive animals.Cave lions had a wide range, their bones have turned up in all of northern Europe and Russia, Alaska and Canada. Our ancestors interacted with them, as we can see from this 32,000 year old painting in the Chauvet cave from the Ardeche region of France (see http://on.fb.me/1MOFyY2), at the opposite end of the Eurasian landmass from where these beautiful creatures were found.LozImage credit: Yakutia Academy of Sciences/ Chauvet cave lions: Bradshaw Foundationhttp://bit.ly/1PPEkRMhttp://bit.ly/1LwzV2X -- source link
#cave lion#fossil#permafrost#siberia#species#russia