“A horse is a horse, of course, of course,”
August 25, 2018 6:30 PM   Subscribe

The foal that came in from the cold after 40,000 years [The Siberian Times] “This is the first picture of an ancient foal dug out of the permafrost in the Batagai depression - also known as the ‘Mouth of Hell’ - in the Yakutia region of Siberia. Head of the world famous Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk, Semyon Grigoryev, said: ‘The foal was approximately three months old (when it died). ‘The unique find was made in the permafrost of Batagai depression. The foal was completely preserved by permafrost. ‘The extra value of the unique find is that we obtained samples of soil layers where it was preserved, which means we will be able to restore a picture of the foal’s environment.’ The Ice Age foal lived up to 40,000 years ago, it is understood. It was buried at a level of around 30 metres in the tadpole-shaped depression, which is a ‘megaslump’ one kilometre long and around 800 metres wide.” [Photos via Motherboard]
posted by Fizz (11 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
We’re gonna learn some cool shit about the history of life on this planet before everything goes to hell.
posted by zinful at 6:40 PM on August 25, 2018 [7 favorites]


Awww. :(
I pity the foal.
posted by The otter lady at 6:51 PM on August 25, 2018 [28 favorites]


Jurassic BarkBronco
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:58 PM on August 25, 2018


Daring Do and The Mouth Of Hell
posted by The otter lady at 7:32 PM on August 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


This is awesome, thanks for posting, Fizz.
posted by TwoStride at 8:23 PM on August 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


I remember reading a while back that domestic horses descend from a lineage separate from the only remaining "wild" horse; Przewalski's horse. Since their ancestors no longer exist, it would be neat to learn more about them genetically, and come to understand those populations and their relationships in detail. It was only a few days back that I learned Przewalski's horse is implied, through genetic evidence, to be a long-feral population of a different domestication event of unknown success. This means that up until recently, Eurasia was home to multiple species of wild horse. Did Eurasians "bison" all the horses before recorded history?
posted by constantinescharity at 8:57 PM on August 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


I pity the foal

ಠ_ಠ
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:07 PM on August 25, 2018 [15 favorites]


NASA has impressive pictures to show how much the Batagaika Crater has grown in the past decade as the permafrost thaws and erodes. Sounds like a good place for paleontology:
Batagaika has disgorged a handful of animals since it began growing, likely in the early 1980s. Equus lenensis (a Pleistocene horse) and Bison priscus (prehistoric steppe bison) have emerged from the thawing soil, as have assorted remains of cave lions and wolves.
posted by peeedro at 7:09 AM on August 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


Batagaika has disgorged a handful of animals since it began growing

Still waiting for eldritch horror from the dawn of time.
posted by The otter lady at 9:47 AM on August 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


i look forward to the majestic herds of pleistocene park
posted by poffin boffin at 11:32 AM on August 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


You can’t help feeling sorry for the long frozen little foal. Don’t even have to be a horse person to feel bad for it.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 9:59 AM on August 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


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