Scientists in Russia have resurrected a flower from the contents of an Ice Age squirrel's burrow containing fruit and seeds that had been stuck in the Siberian permafrost for more than 30,000 years
A team of Russian scientists have successfully grown a blossoming flower from fruit tissues found in an Ice Age squirrel's burrow in the banks of the Kolyma River in Siberia.
The scientists reported their achievement in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), noting that the so-called Silene stenophylla plant has been resurrected from what is by far the oldest plant material to have been brought to life.
The team found around 70 squirrel hibernation burrows in the Siberian river bank.
"All burrows were found at depths of 20-40m from the present day surface and located in layers containing bones of large mammals such as mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, bison, horse, deer, and other representatives of fauna from the age of mammoths, as well as plant remains," they reported.
"The squirrels dug the frozen ground to build their burrows, which are about the size of a soccer ball, putting in hay first and then animal fur for a perfect storage chamber," said Stanislav Gubin, one of the authors of the study, who spent years rummaging through the area for squirrel burrows. "It’s a natural cryobank."
The scientists say the world's permafrost — which makes up about 20 percent of the planet's surface — could be a vast time capsule, a place where ancient life is preserved, could be revived, and could speak volumes about the evolution of life on Earth.
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