Frozen Lion Cubs Still Have Their Fur 12,000 Years Later

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The cubs are the only well-preserved examples of cave lion that scientists have ever had the opportunity to study. Credit Russian Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha, via Associated Press

More than 12,000 years ago, lions dwelled in the caves of present-day Russia.

Two cubs from the ice age were recently uncovered in the Siberian Arctic, perfectly frozen in the permafrost. Named Uyan and Dina after the Uyandina river where they were recovered, the cubs still had their fur and whiskers.

“It’s the first time in history that a cave lion, although it is a cub and not a grown-up animal, was found with all the fur, internal organs and soft parts of the body so well-preserved,” Valery Plotnikov, a researcher at the regional Academy of Sciences, said to The Associated Press. Cave lions, the prehistoric relative of modern-day lions, are believed to have become extinct about 10,000 years ago.

The Siberian Times first reported news of the discovery in city of Yakutsk last month. The cubs were unveiled at the Kingdom of Permafrost Museum in Yakutian last week. Placed on an ice-block pedestal, they looked like sleeping house cats bundled in thick brown coats.

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Vasily Gorokhov, left, and Yakov Androsov found the cubs in an ice sheet according to The Siberian Times. Credit Russian Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha, via Associated Press

The lion cubs probably died in their dens after a landslide, Albert Protopopov, a researcher with the Yakutian Academy of Sciences, said to The Siberian Times. Heaps of mud, rock and ice entombed their corpses from the elements for thousands of years.