Perfectly preserved 35,000-year-old sabre-toothed tiger cub found frozen in Siberian ice – complete with fur & claws
SCIENTISTS have uncovered a perfectly preserved sabre-toothed tiger cub frozen deep in Siberian ice.
The extinct beast was found complete with its fur and sharp claws intact as the remarkable discovery is believed to be over 35,000 years old.
The pristine remains of the three-week-old kitten were first found in 2020 in the Russian Republic of Sakha, along the Badyarikha River.
Its entire head and the front side of its upper body was discovered completely enclosed inside a block of ice, according to a paper published in Scientific Reports.
Incredible images show the cub’s furry head with even its whiskers still pointing proudly out from under its nose.
Radiocarbon dating suggests the mummified big cat is from the Late Pleistocene period.
Frozen remains of mammals from around this time are said to be “very rare,” the researchers claim.
The kitten’s paws, including its pads and claws were all found well preserved on the front paws with the claws said to be sharp and strongly curved.
Six pairs of ribs were also visible with further fragments indicating at least 12 pairs existed.
The paper proudly states: “For the first time in the history of paleontology, the appearance of an extinct mammal that has no analogues in the modern fauna has been studied.”
Researchers remain stumped over how the cub may have died with its body showing signs that it was adapted to the cold climate.
Due to the very young age of the cat it was yet to develop its classic “sabre teeth“.
But researchers were able to make a few clear distinctions between the cub and a traditional big cat today.
They said it has an unusual shaped mouth which was able to open very wide compared to a typical lion cub.
It also displayed small ears, elongated forelimbs, a chunky neck region and a dark brown coat colour.
It comes as the world’s tiniest dinosaur egg from a whopping 80 million years ago has also been discovered “perfectly preserved”.
The miraculous find dates all the way back to the Late Cretacerous period and offers unbelievable insights into the reproductive habits of dinosaurs.
Six near-perfect egg fossils were gouged from a well-preserved nest bizarrely found at a construction site in Ganzhou, China – with them being just the size of a 50p.
Another ancient discovery saw miners stumble upon a preserved woolly rhino which experts hope to bring back to life.
The magnificent 10,000-year-old beast was found by gobsmacked workers while digging for gold.
Scientists will now examine the rhino which was mummified by permafrost.
There are hopes of bringing such extinct animals – including woolly mammoths – back to life by using DNA found on such carcasses preserved in the ice.
Pictures show the discovery including the horn still intact after preservation in the ice.