8 Prehistoric Animals That Have Been Found Trapped In Ice

Most of us are fascinated to learn about the animals that used to walk this earth, but unfortunately we have precious little to go on. In most cases only fossils remain, but thankfully we can get a surprising amount of information from these fossils. This gives us an idea into how extinct animals used to live their lives, but it's only natural to want to know more. Every now and again a discovery rocks the science world and captivates the minds of people all over the world. In today's video we will be taking a look at mummified animals, and specifically animals that have been frozen in ice. When these discoveries are made, the creatures are not found in a clear block of ice like in the cartoons or movies, but instead they're mostly found in permafrost. These are areas of permanently frozen grounds, and some of them contain ice age creatures. Unfortunately, thanks to global warming these permafrosts are melting, and they're releasing methane into the atmosphere. This makes the global warming situation even worse, and now even pirates are getting involved. As ice age animal parts are quite valuable, quite a lot of people want to get their hands on them. This has led to pirates purposely melting the permafrost and taking all of the animal parts inside. This is obviously quite a serious issue, but in this video I will be focusing on specimens that have been discovered ethically. The first animal we will be taking a look at is the woolly rhinoceros. This extinct rhinoceros was found in Eurasia during the Pleistocene epoch, and it was famous for its woolly coat and its large horns. This rhino has been found preserved in ice twice, once in 2020 and once in 2015. The rhino in 2015 was named Sasha, and it was the first young member of its species ever discovered. Researchers were unable to tell if it was male or female, but its horn size suggests that it was weaned at the time that it died. Sasha was very well preserved, and she still had wool, one ear, one eye and her nostrils. The rhino discovered in 2020 was much larger, and it was also much more well preserved. It still had most of its internal organs, and it was among the best preserved animals ever found in the region. The next animal we will be taking a look at is the cave lion. The cave lion is an extinct cat that most likely evolved in Europe. Fossil bone samples have revealed that it was highly distinct and genetically isolated from the modern lion. Some experts believe that it had more in common with tigers, and it was definitely a predator not to mess with. In Eastern Siberia in 2017, an incredible specimen was unearthed, and this specimen was a cub. Scientists named this cub Sparta, and it's believed that Sparta died very suddenly. Sparta is one of the best preserved ice age animals ever found, and her fur and whiskers can still be seen. It's thought that she possibly died in a mudslide, and this could be why she is so well preserved. The next animal we will be taking a look at is the woolly mammoth. This very famous mammal lived during the Pleistocene, until its eventual extinction during the Holocene. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, and we likely played a part in its extinction. Famously there have been quite a few mammoth discoveries, but a few of them stand out. There were two in 2007, and there was one in 2022. The two mammoths in 2007 were calves, and they date back to around 40,000 years ago. Scans showed that these mammoths had died choking on mud after falling in water, and this might be the reason why they were so well preserved. One of these calves even had a stomach full of undigested breast milk, and researchers said that it looks like yogurt. The specimen in 2022 was found by gold miners, and it was one of the best preserved examples ever found. It really is strange to see skin still intact on these animals, and it gives us an idea as to what they looked like. The next animal we will be taking a look at is the steppe bison. The steppe bison is an extinct species of bison that was once found on the mammoth steppe. The mammoth steppe was once the earth's most extensive biome, but today it has mostly disappeared. The steppe bison was very similar in size and appearance to the American wood bison, and it's possible that they lived very similar lives. One of these creatures was unearthed in northern Siberia in 2011, and this specimen had a complete heart, brain and digestive system. Some of its organs had shrunk over time, but its blood vessels were almost in perfect condition. There's a growing interest in cloning some extinct ice age creatures, and scientists believe that they could have cloned this creature as it was so well preserved. The ethics behind cloning extinct creatures are very complicated, and this is why it's still a very controversial topic. The next creature we will be taking a look at is the Lenner horse. The Lenner horse is an extinct species of horse from the late Pleistocene and Holocene of Siberia, but some experts consider it to be a subspecies of the wild horse. It would have looked very similar in size and shape to modern wild horses, but it might have been a bit bullier. In 2018, a foal of this species was discovered, and it was believed to be around 42,000 years old. This creature was once again found in Siberian permafrost, and it contained the oldest liquid blood on record. This was only the second time that liquid blood had been extracted from an ice age animal, and the other animal was a mammoth, and this mammoth was 10,000 years younger. It's believed that this foal was only one to two weeks old, and stood around a meter at the shoulder when it died. Once again, it's believed that it drowned in mud, as this is how most of the well-preserved specimens died. Scientists believe that it is possible to clone this animal, but it wouldn't be too different from the modern wild horse. The next animal we will be taking a look at is the brown bear. I've recently done a video on the brown bear and it's many subspecies, and it's easy to forget how long this creature has been around. In 2020, when this bear was first unearthed, many believed it to be a cave bear. This is an extinct species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia, and it was thought to be a mostly plant-eating species. This would make it very similar to the modern day goby bear, but this species went extinct 24,000 years ago. Analysis revealed that this bear was in fact a brown bear, but this brown bear was 3,460 years old. It was believed that this bear was around 2 to 3 years old when she died, and as you can see, she was very well preserved. For our next frozen creature, we can move away from Siberia and North America, as we will be heading to Antarctica. At one rocky headland in 2016, scientists unearthed the telltale signs of a freshly abandoned Adelie penguin colony. There were large numbers of pebbles and guano in the area, and this is exactly what an Adelie penguin breeding site looks like. They use small stones and pebbles to build their nests, and of course they defecate while they're at these nests. Near this site, there were penguin corpses, and these corpses still had feathers and flesh still intact. Adelie penguins hadn't been spotted in the area for hundreds of years, and this made the discovery even stranger. After further analysis, the corpses were thought to be around 800 to 5000 years old, and to this day it's still one of the most incredible discoveries in the area. The next animal we will be taking a look at is the grey wolf. Now just like the brown bear, the grey wolf has many subspecies, and it's found in many countries around the world. A grey wolf specimen was found in Canada in 2016, and this specimen was found by gold miners. Straight away it was very clear that it was a pup and not a fully grown wolf, and this pup was a female. It was preserved in permafrost for 57,000 years, and this pup was only believed to be around 7 weeks old when she died. It's been hypothesized that her den may have collapsed, and this is how she died and how she was so well preserved. She is still one of the most complete wolf mummies ever found, and she is basically 100% intact. The only things that are really missing are her eyes, and she's a real reminder as to how long grey wolves have been on this planet. If you know of any other frozen creatures that could have made it on this list, then let me know down in the comments below. But thank you for watching, I hope you enjoyed. If you liked it, please leave a like, and subscribe if you want to see more videos like these, but until next time, goodbye.