Frozen
October 27, 2015 8:25 PM   Subscribe

Lion cubs Found in nearly perfect condition. More from the excellent Siberian Times
posted by Katjusa Roquette (17 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
I think this is the Siberian Times article in question.
posted by jedicus at 8:35 PM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


In related news I have also found a cat that gives permafrost stares.
posted by Bistle at 9:28 PM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]


Objection! Cubs dead. Therefore, not nearly perfect, just sad. The anti-adorbs, if you will.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:14 PM on October 27, 2015 [6 favorites]


Yeah, nearly perfect shouldn't mean dead at least 80% of the time.
posted by Bistle at 10:23 PM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


I like this in the comments: "Evolutionary biology is my favorite arm chair science."
posted by rhizome at 12:14 AM on October 28, 2015


Can You Feel Me Letting It Go Tonight?
posted by radwolf76 at 4:00 AM on October 28, 2015


To me, "nearly perfect condition" is well fed, warm, happy, playful, with maybe a little hairball problem...
posted by HuronBob at 4:06 AM on October 28, 2015


They actually look pretty ragged in the ST piece. I wonder what the state of their DNA is?
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:56 AM on October 28, 2015


I would bet good money that they could get a pretty damn good read of the DNA from these animals.
posted by kisch mokusch at 6:06 AM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


I usually think of the Siberian Times as a source of "weird science" stories. Mysterious potholes found in arctic tundra. Frozen baby mammoth. UFOs. Is it, in fact, a respectable paper?
posted by Bee'sWing at 6:10 AM on October 28, 2015


This cries out for a Jurassic Park style cloning program.
posted by Missense Mutation at 6:53 AM on October 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


The less than excellent Russia Today assures us: "So far they have announced the initial microbiological analysis has shown the remains are free from dangerous infections such anthrax."

So far.
posted by three blind mice at 10:01 AM on October 28, 2015


They actually look pretty ragged in the ST piece. I wonder what the state of their DNA is?

I mean, sure they could use a bath and a brushing, but for 10,000 years under the ice they're looking pretty amazing. Wish there were pictures of the body though.

I wonder how climate change will effect arctic and near arctic research, if they are finding these things in the permafrost (You hear about quite a few seeds being found there too.). Are they going to find more things or older things as the ice melts, or both? Is the preservation of the things they going to be as good as they warm slightly? Interesting.

I usually think of the Siberian Times as a source of "weird science" stories. Mysterious potholes found in arctic tundra. Frozen baby mammoth. UFOs. Is it, in fact, a respectable paper?

Well, it's mostly a vehicle for tourism and 'weird news' articles, but it's real and not made up if that's what you mean. It's in English, for one thing. Definitely meant to get people outside of Siberia to ever ever mention Siberia or think about Siberia. Not a bad thing.
posted by neonrev at 10:14 AM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


Nice article even though the MSN wankers got the clickthough. Could a mod change the link to http://siberiantimes.com/science/others/news/n0464-meet-this-extinct-cave-lion-at-least-10000-years-old/ ?
posted by Zack_Replica at 11:37 AM on October 28, 2015


"Well, it's mostly a vehicle for tourism and 'weird news' articles, but it's real and not made up if that's what you mean. It's in English, for one thing. Definitely meant to get people outside of Siberia to ever ever mention Siberia or think about Siberia. Not a bad thing."

Yes, I do believe they're not made up. The stories are often repeated and expanded in more familiar venues. I just couldn't find much about them. They have no Wikipedia page! I didn't think about tourism promotion, they've made me want to visit!
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:54 AM on October 28, 2015


This cries out for a Jurassic Park style cloning program.
posted by Missense Mutation at 12:53 AM on October 29 [1 favorite +] [!]

Eponysterical!

Normally, I would make some comment that Jurassic Park was bullshit, DNA doesn't last that long, and even if it did we don't have any species capable of hosting the animal. But those arguments don't really hold here. It's 10,000 years old, which is young enough for the DNA to still be intact. It's frozen, which always helps for preserving stuff, including DNA. And unlike, say, the Tasmanian Tiger or Woolly Mammoth, which don't have any close modern day relatives, it may actually be feasible to use a big cat as a host.

So I still think it's near impossible, but not for the usual reasons. Despite being in as good a condition as one could hope, I doubt you could get a single, intact nucleus from these animals that you could be used for cloning a la Dolly the sheep. Having the DNA sequence is not the same as having the DNA all properly packaged in their chromosomes ready for propagation.
posted by kisch mokusch at 3:10 PM on October 28, 2015


...and with the thawing of the permafrost comes an extinction-level event...just part of the natural cycle, right?
posted by Chuffy at 4:45 PM on October 28, 2015


« Older It sounds like you're living your best life!   |   Catfishing in Amazon: looking for truth in cloudy... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments