Archaeologists unearth perfectly preserved 39,500-year-old cave bear from Siberian permafrost 

A group of scientists and ivory traders have embarked on a perilous journey to a remote group of Siberian islands just beyond the Arctic Circle. Undaunted by the freezing temperatures, their mission is to find missing animals that may be hiding in the thawing permafrost.

Recently, the Lyakhovsky Islands made an extraordinary discovery – a fully preserved adult cave bear, with its posture, teeth and internal organs intact.
Experts estimate that cave bears died between 22,000 and 39,500 years ago. The species Ursus spelaeus flourished during the last ice age, but became extinct about 15,000 years ago. The carcass was originally discovered by reindeer herders, who soon informed researchers at Northeastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Russia.

“This is an unprecedented find – a complete bear carcass with well-preserved soft tissue,” NEFU researcher Lena Grіgorievа said in a statement. continued on Monday, announcing the discovery.

So far, scientists have only unearthed the remains of a cave bear skeleton, never a completely intact specimen.

A thousand-year-old carcass

The carcass of an Ice Age bear can be found on the Great Lyakhovsky island, located between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea in northern Russia. Photo:
Northeastern Federal University through AP

Cave bears roam vast territories while much of Europe and Asia is covered by glaciers, co-existing with mammoths, saber-toothed cats and giant sloths. These creatures were enormous, with males weighing up to 1 ton or 2,200 pounds, about 500 pounds heavier than the largest bears alive today.

Grigorievа and her colleagues gave an estimated age of the bear, but they aimed to improve accuracy through carbon dating. In addition, they hope to conduct more detailed examinations of the corpses and perform genetic analyses.

The carcass of an Ice Age bear can be found on the Great Lyakhovsky island, located between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea in northern Russia. Photo:
Northeastern Federal University through AP

Another cave bear carcass – a cub – was recently discovered in Yakuti, Russia, raising expectations for a DNA comparison between the two animals. Siberian permafrost reveals more revelations

As the planet continues to warm, the Siberian permafrost – permanently frozen ground – has begun to melt. Melting ice reveals Ice Age creatures that have been buried for tens of thousands of years.

The Lyakhovsky Islands, where the bear was found, are full of mammoth remains from the last ice age.

Last year, scientists came across a severed 40,000-year-old wolf head, still decorated with fur, teeth, brain matter and facial tissue, on the bank of a river in Yakutia.

A severed wolf head from the Ice Age has been found in Russia. Photo:
Reuters

Other ancient creatures discovered in the Yakuti ice include two extinct cave lions and a 42,000-year-old foal.

As temperatures continue to rise, more remains are likely to be discovered.