Scientists unveil extinct Ice Age lion cubs
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The scientists believe that the cave lion cubs, named Boris and Sparta, briefly roamed the steppe of what is now eastern Russia
As per a team of international scientists, they have identified a pair of extinct Ice Age lions that are among the best preserved specimens ever found.
The scientists believe that the cave lion cubs, named Boris and Sparta, briefly roamed the steppe of what is now eastern Russia. This happened tens of thousands of years ago.
The lions were larger than their African lion relatives that still exist today.
The two cubs are believed to have been about a month or two old when they died.
They were already the size of a full-grown house cat.
However, carbon dating showed that they were mummified, likely in mud, at roughly the same location thousands of years apart.
Stockholm University's Centre for Palaeogenetics, which is the academic home of Love Dalén, a member of the research team, in an email to NBC wrote that as far as he knows "there have been four such cubs found ever."
"However, what makes this find unique is Sparta, the female cub. To my knowledge, this is the best preserved frozen specimen from the last Ice Age ever found. Sparta is in near-perfect condition", Dalén said.