Arctic Micro-Animal Survives 24,000 Years In Siberian Permafrost

Stas Malavin, co-author of the paper in the journal Current Biology said that the finding raised intriguing questions about what mechanisms the multicellular animal used.

A microscopic animal called a bdelloid rotifer came back to life after being frozen for 24,000 years in Siberia and then successfully made clones of itself, Russian scientists said Monday. Stas Malavin, who co-authored a paper in the journal Current Biology on the development, told AFP the finding raised intriguing questions about what mechanisms the multicellular animal used to endure its long rest. "Our report is the hardest proof as of today that multicellular animals could withstand tens of thousands of years in cryptobiosis, the state of almost completely arrested metabolism," said Malavin, of the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science in Pushchino, Russia. The research team used a drilling rig to collect core samples from Alazeya River in the Russian arctic then used radiocarbon dating to determine that the age of the specimen was between 23,960 to 24,485 years old.