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12,000-year-old frozen lion cubs unveiled in Siberia — with whiskers

A screenshot of one of the 12,000-year-old lion cubs found preserved in Siberia. Screenshot/YouTube/The Siberian Times

They’ve got whiskers. And fur. And they’re at least 12,000 years old.

Two extinct lion cubs that scientists believe are more than 12,000 years old, were found in the permafrost in Siberia in October in the cracks of a riverbed on the bank of the Uyandina River.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQRQ6aHkeAI

The find — which was revealed in Russia on Tuesday — is one of the best in history: the baby cubs, likely victims of a landslide that kept them from their mother, are so fully preserved that they look almost new.

“This find, beyond any doubt, is sensational,” said Protopopov. The cubs “are complete with all their body parts: fur, ears, soft tissue and even whiskers,” Albert Protopopov, of the Yakutian Academy of Sciences told The Siberian Times.

The scientists wouldn’t talk about the possibility of cloning.

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