The carcass of a 28,000-year-old cave lion cub was found mummified but in excellent condition for study in an area in Siberia. Russia.
The animal has been dubbed Sparta and, according to the author of a lion study, Love Delon, is probably the best-preserved Ice Age animal ever found. In an interview with CNN, he said that Sparta is almost intact, despite the fact that the fur is disheveled. “He even preserved his mustache,” said the scientist.
Below is a report about a cat mummy found in Egypt.
Scientists digitally ‘unroll’ Egyptian cat mummy
A second lion cub was found in the same cave about 15 meters away – although the two differ greatly in age, about 15,000 years apart. The second specimen, Boris, is about 43,500 years old.
Both were found in 2017 and 2018 by people searching for giant ivory amidst the ice on the banks of the Semulyakh River.
A study on lions was published this week.
Reproduction of an image published in the scientific journal Que Quaternary with images of a cave lion that was found frozen – Photo: Reproduction / Que Quaternary
The large number of cubs indicates that this region of Siberia was a favorable breeding ground for cave lions and that this particular location had certain characteristics that allowed it to freeze quickly, thereby preserving the animals.
Despite being favorable for reproduction, the site should also be prone to collapse.
The color of the mummies’ fur indicates that the animals were in the process of changing their fur, which usually occurs from infancy to adulthood – this happens between one month and two months of age.
Lions in this region probably had gray fur, which is more adapted to the Siberian region.
