Mysterious 'living fossil' predator is 'WOKEN' by scientists after 40,000 YEARS lying dormant 30ft under frozen earth
The Sun • • science
Key Points:
- Scientists in Russia have revived a microscopic predator, Acanthocystis yamallongha, that lay frozen in Siberian permafrost for nearly 40,000 years, dating back to the Late Pleistocene era.
- The organism, discovered nearly 30 feet beneath the ice in the Yamalo-Nenets region, is a spiky, tentacled single-celled predator belonging to the centrohelid heliozoans group and represents a previously unknown evolutionary lineage.
- Researchers successfully revived the creature by extracting it from sediments near the Kheigiyakha River and maintaining it in laboratory conditions, noting its unique feeding habits compared to modern relatives.
- The organism survived by entering cryptobiosis, a near-death state where a protective silica shell forms and metabolism nearly stops, suggesting microscopic life can endure much longer than previously believed.
- Scientists emphasized the organism is not harmful to humans and highlighted Siberian permafrost's role as a natural freezer that preserves ancient life forms, having already yielded several ancient bacteria and microorganisms.
