List of Ice Age species preserved as permafrost mummies explained

This is a list of Ice Age species preserved as permafrost mummies. It includes all known species that have had their tissues partially preserved within the permafrost layer of the Arctic and Subarctic. Most went extinct during the Late Pleistocene extinctions while some are still extant today. They have been listed to the most specific known taxonomic rank.

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Permafrost mummies provide crucial insights into the physiology and life histories of Pleistocene organisms, due to how well the preservation process keeps the specimens from decomposing. The constant presence of permafrost is able to preserve the soft tissues of organisms through a process similar to freeze-drying. With such complete preservation of tissues, it is possible to determine numerous things from the such as: DNA, eDNA,[1] evolutionary history,[2] gut contents,[3] and trophic dynamics.[4] Studies have even shown that the process is so complete there is evidence of nucleic activity.[5]

Some of these specimens are on display at the Kingdom of the Permafrost museum near Yakutsk.[6]

(E) - denote an extinct species

Artiodactyla (Even-toed ungulates)

Bovidae (Bovines)

Cervidae (Deer)

Canidae (Dogs)

Felidae (Cats)

Ursidae (Bears)

Ochotonidae (Pika)

Leporidae (Rabbits and hares)

Perissodactyla (Odd-toed ungulates)

Equidae (Horses)

Rhinocerotidae (Rhinoceroses)

Elephantidae (Elephants)

Rodentia (Rodents)

Cricetidae

Sciuridae (Squirrels)

Passeriformes (Perching Birds)

Alaudidae (Larks)

Notes and References

  1. Kjær . Kurt H. . Winther Pedersen . Mikkel . De Sanctis . Bianca . De Cahsan . Binia . Korneliussen . Thorfinn S. . Michelsen . Christian S. . Sand . Karina K. . Jelavić . Stanislav . Ruter . Anthony H. . Schmidt . Astrid M. A. . Kjeldsen . Kristian K. . Tesakov . Alexey S. . Snowball . Ian . Gosse . John C. . Alsos . Inger G. . 2022 . A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA . Nature . en . 612 . 7939 . 283–291 . 10.1038/s41586-022-05453-y . 1476-4687 . 9729109 . 36477129. 2022Natur.612..283K .
  2. Orlando . Ludovic . Ginolhac . Aurélien . Zhang . Guojie . Froese . Duane . Albrechtsen . Anders . Stiller . Mathias . Schubert . Mikkel . Cappellini . Enrico . Petersen . Bent . Moltke . Ida . Johnson . Philip L. F. . Fumagalli . Matteo . Vilstrup . Julia T. . Raghavan . Maanasa . Korneliussen . Thorfinn . 2013 . Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse . Nature . en . 499 . 7456 . 74–78 . 10.1038/nature12323 . 23803765 . 2013Natur.499...74O . 1476-4687.
  3. Rudaya . Natalia . Protopopov . Albert . Trofimova . Svetlana . Plotnikov . Valery . Zhilich . Snezhana . 2015 . Landscapes of the 'Yuka' mammoth habitat: A palaeobotanical approach . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology . 214 . 1–8 . 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2014.12.003 . 2015RPaPa.214....1R . 0034-6667.
  4. Diedrich . Cajus G. . 2022 . Thick skin cutters of Siberian frozen mummies—The coevolutionary adaptation of Eurasian Ice Age spotted hyenas . Acta Zoologica . en . 103 . 2 . 220–241 . 10.1111/azo.12366 . 0001-7272.
  5. Yamagata . Kazuo . Nagai . Kouhei . Miyamoto . Hiroshi . Anzai . Masayuki . Kato . Hiromi . Miyamoto . Kei . Kurosaka . Satoshi . Azuma . Rika . Kolodeznikov . Igor I. . Protopopov . Albert V. . Plotnikov . Valerii V. . Kobayashi . Hisato . Kawahara-Miki . Ryouka . Kono . Tomohiro . Uchida . Masao . 2019-03-11 . Signs of biological activities of 28,000-year-old mammoth nuclei in mouse oocytes visualized by live-cell imaging . Scientific Reports . en . 9 . 1 . 4050 . 10.1038/s41598-019-40546-1 . 2045-2322 . 6411884 . 30858410. 2019NatSR...9.4050Y .
  6. Web site: Magazine . Smithsonian . Fessenden . Maris . Ice Age Cave Lion Cubs and a Look Back at Permafrost Mummies . 2024-04-14 . Smithsonian Magazine . en.
  7. Kirillova . Irina V. . Zanina . Oksana G. . Chernova . Olga F. . Lapteva . Elena G. . Trofimova . Svetlana S. . Lebedev . Vladimir S. . Tiunov . Alexei V. . Soares . Andre E. R. . Shidlovskiy . Fedor K. . Shapiro . Beth . September 2015 . An ancient bison from the mouth of the Rauchua River (Chukotka, Russia) . Quaternary Research . en . 84 . 2 . 232–245 . 10.1016/j.yqres.2015.06.003 . 2015QuRes..84..232K . 0033-5894.
  8. Book: Guthrie, R. Dale . Frozen Fauna of the Mammoth Steppe: The Story of Blue Babe . University of Chicago Press . Chicago, IL . en.
  9. Meachen . Julie . Wooller . Matthew J. . Barst . Benjamin D. . Funck . Juliette . Crann . Carley . Heath . Jess . Cassatt-Johnstone . Molly . Shapiro . Beth . Hall . Elizabeth . Hewitson . Susan . Zazula . Grant . 2020 . A mummified Pleistocene gray wolf pup . Current Biology . 30 . 24 . R1467–R1468 . 10.1016/j.cub.2020.11.011 . 0960-9822. free . 33352124 . 2020CBio...30R1467M .
  10. Web site: Extinct lion cubs found in Siberia are up to 55,000 years old - latest test results reveal . 2024-02-29 . siberiantimes.com.
  11. Youngman . P. M. . 1994-05-31 . Beringian Ferrets: Mummies, Biogeography, and Systematics . Journal of Mammalogy . en . 75 . 2 . 454–461 . 10.2307/1382567 . 1382567 . 1545-1542.
  12. Book: Baryshnikov, G. F. . Late pleistocene Ursidae and Mustelidae remains (Mammalia, Carnivora) from Geographical Society Cave in the Russian Far East . Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science . 2015 . November 1, 2015.
  13. Web site: России . Министерство образования и науки . 14 September 2020 . Северо-Восточный федеральный университет им. М.К. Аммосова, СВФУ . 2024-02-29 . Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации.
  14. Guthrie . R. D. . 1973-12-14 . Mummified Pika (Ochotona) Carcass and Dung Pellets from Pleistocene Deposits in Interior Alaska . Journal of Mammalogy . en . 54 . 4 . 970–971 . 10.2307/1379093 . 1379093 . 1545-1542.
  15. Web site: Perfectly-preserved ancient foal is shown to the world for the first time . 2024-02-29 . siberiantimes.com.
  16. Boeskorov . Gennady G. . Potapova . Olga R. . Protopopov . Albert V. . Plotnikov . Valery V. . Maschenko . Eugeny N. . Shchelchkova . Marina V. . Petrova . Ekaterina A. . Kowalczyk . Rafal . van der Plicht . Johannes . Tikhonov . Alexey N. . 2018-07-01 . A study of a frozen mummy of a wild horse from the Holocene of Yakutia, East Siberia, Russia . Mammal Research . en . 63 . 3 . 307–314 . 10.1007/s13364-018-0362-4 . 2199-241X.
  17. Boeskorov . Gennady G. . Lazarev . Peter A. . Sher . Andrei V. . Davydov . Sergei P. . Bakulina . Nadezhda T. . Shchelchkova . Marina V. . Binladen . Jonas . Willerslev . Eske . Buigues . Bernard . Tikhonov . Alexey N. . 2011-08-01 . Woolly rhino discovery in the lower Kolyma River . Quaternary Science Reviews . Beringia and Beyond: Papers Celebrating the Scientific Career of Andrei Vladimirovich Sher, 1939–2008 . 30 . 17 . 2262–2272 . 10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.02.010 . 2011QSRv...30.2262B . 0277-3791.
  18. Web site: 2023-04-06 . 30,000 year-old arctic ground squirrel discovered in the Yukon . 2024-04-14 . Yukon News . en.
  19. Dussex . Nicolas . Stanton . David W. G. . Sigeman . Hanna . Ericson . Per G. P. . Gill . Jacquelyn . Fisher . Daniel C. . Protopopov . Albert V. . Herridge . Victoria L. . Plotnikov . Valery . Hansson . Bengt . Dalén . Love . 2020-02-21 . Biomolecular analyses reveal the age, sex and species identity of a near-intact Pleistocene bird carcass . Communications Biology . en . 3 . 1 . 84 . 10.1038/s42003-020-0806-7 . 32081985 . 7035339 . 2399-3642.

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