Science & Technology

Scientists aim to clone an extinct cave lion

By T.K. Randall
March 5, 2016

Image: Lion in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Credit: Thomas Fuhrmann / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Russian and South Korean scientists have joined forces in a renewed effort to find usable DNA within the extremely well preserved remains of two cave lion cubs found in Russia last year.

"Comparing with modern lion cubs, we think that these two were very small, maybe a week or two old," said Dr Albert Protopopov, head of the mammoth studies department of the Yakutian Academy of Sciences. "The eyes were not quite open, they have baby teeth and not all had appeared".It is thought that the cubs may have perished when a landslide buried them inside a cave.

The research, which is being conducted at North East Russia University in the city of Yakutsk, involves some of the same scientists who have been working on cloning a mammoth.

"We managed to take some samples of skin along with the muscle tissue, and we hope that we will find what we want in these samples," said Dr Protopopov.

Source: Siberian Times

Tags: Cave Lion, Cloning, Extinct