Scientists are hoping to use new DNA technology to replicate a species of Ice Age lion that existed at least 12,000 years ago in Siberia, using two remarkably well-preserved cave lion cubs that were discovered last year on the bank of the Uyandina River in the Abyisky district of Siberia.
The two cubs, known as Dina and Uyan, are the best-preserved specimens of this long-extinct feline species, and they may be the key to better understanding this species that disappeared after the Pleistocene era (2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago).
The frozen cubs were discovered by a group of researchers who had been searching the region for mammoth tusks. Dr. Albert Protopopov, head of the mammoth fauna studies department of the Yakutian Academy of Sciences, explained in an interview at the time that in comparison to "modern lion cubs, we think that these two were very small, maybe a week or two old. The eyes were not quite open, they have baby teeth and not all had appeared."
The cloning project draws on expertise from Russian and South Korean scientists at the Joint Foundation of Molecular Paleontology at North East Russia University, in the city of Yakutsk. The scientists will extract samples from one of the cubs for the cloning procedure, while the better-preserved one will be kept in a museum, Protopopov explained.
However, there has been some conflict between the Siberian and Korean researchers about the size of the samples. Dr. Hwang Woo-suk, who has also worked on cloning mammoths and whose previous stem cell research faced controversies, wanted a large section- part of a skull or leg- but this was resisted by Protopopov's team, who wants to preserve the Ice Age kittens for potential research developments.
"We intend to keep it for the future," Protopopov said. "The methods of research are constantly being improved, about once a decade there is a mini-revolution in this area. So we will do everything possible to keep this carcass frozen for as long as possible."
He elaborated: "The dispute arose from the fact that the researchers, as always, want to be completely sure and take more tissue, and I can understand them. But the lion is not fully preserved and there are not so many tissues. We have planned other studies, so it is important to preserve the original morphology of the remains. Such disputes are normal in all studies, and in the end we came to a compromise."
A thorough autopsy on the cubs is scheduled for this year.
About the size of a modern-day Siberian tiger, the cave lion is one of the biggest known feline predators of the Ice Age. It made its way from Africa to Europe about 700,000 years ago and gradually spread throughout most of North Eurasia, ranging from the British Isles to the Yukon in Canada.
