A group of reindeer herders on a remote Russian Arctic archipelago have found an immaculately preserved carcass of an Ice Age cave bear. Melting permafrost exposed the animal on the Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, the largest of the Lyakhovsky Islands, which are part of the New Siberian Islands archipelago that lies between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea. Experts in the field consider the discovery ground breaking. Previously scientists only had been able to discover the bones of cave bears that became extinct 15,000 years ago.
“This is the first and only find of its kind — a whole bear carcass with soft tissues. It is completely preserved, with all internal organs in place, including even its nose. This find is of great importance for the whole world.” –Lena Grigorieva
A preliminary analysis indicated that the adult bear lived 22,000 to 39,500 years ago but radiocarbon dating will determine the precise age of the bear.
