Ancient Siberian Bear Reveals an Unexpected Twist on Close Inspection
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- 17 Mar 2023
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An adult bear recovered from the Siberian permafrost in the Lyakhovsky Islands in 2020 is not, as originally thought, around 30,000 years old. In fact, its age is more in the region of 3,500 years old.
That's the verdict of researchers from the North-Eastern Federal University in Russia, who carried out a new necropsy of the well-preserved specimen. It remains an incredible find, offering an intriguing window into a past that isn't quite as far back as presumed.
Initially, the team thought they were dealing with a cave bear (Ursus spelaeus), a species that went extinct around 24,000 years ago. Though not quite as big as modern brown bears (Ursus arctos), some are thought to have grow to 2 meters (6.6 feet) in length and weighed as much as 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds).
Following the new investigation, we know we are looking at its bulkier extant cousin. With a height of 1.55 meters (5.1 feet) and a weight of 78 kilograms (172 pounds), the animal was thought to have been around 2 to 3 years old when it died of an injury to its spinal column.
"This find is absolutely unique: the complete carcass of an ancient brown bear," biologist Maxim Cheprasov, from the North-Eastern Federal University, told Reuters. Read More…
