The Arctic permafrost is home to all sorts of interesting discoveries. But this one may just take the cake: a microscopic animal that has been revived after slumbering in the frozen soil for 24,000 years!
Bdelloid rotifers typically live in watery environments and have an incredible ability to survive. Russian scientists found the creatures in a core of frozen soil extracted from the Siberian permafrost using a drilling rig.
“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 Stas Malavin, scientist at Moscow’s Institute for Biological Physics and Biophysics.
What is Bdelloid rotifers?
They are microscopic organisms measuring less than one millimeter long – too small to be seen with human eyes without magnification. The bdelloids make their way through life by producing whip-like tails which they use to grab onto food particles.
How did they know this one lived 24,000 years ago?
Research had previously shown us that these rotifers could live around 10 years if they were frozen. Recently scientists found that they could use radiocarbon dating to see how old microbes and other critters were when recovered from permafrost.
What is Permafrost?
Permafrost is soil that has been at or below the freezing point of water for two years. On average, permafrost reaches a depth of about one kilometer (0.62 miles).
Why it may not be a good idea to revive Unknown Ancient Microbes
When humans find ancient animals, it is often tempting to try and revive them. This has been done before with some success but in most cases the results were not what was expected or desired. For example: In 2008 scientists tried to bring a species back from extinction that had died out 12 million years ago by warming up their ancient eggs which they found preserved in volcanic ash on an oceanic island off northeastern Japan.
Spiny lizards called sphenodonts once roamed all over North America during the age of dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago – until one fateful day when there was a cataclysmic event pushing lava into trees where they lived so much like Pompeii’s demise- wiping them out instantly. The experiments did not work in this case.
Is there a Risk of Pandemic Level Diseases coming from Permafrost?
There is a risk of pandemic level diseases coming from permafrost. The key question to ask when looking at the risks associated with thawing of permafrost, which covers quarter of Earth’s land area and contains twice as much carbon than in the atmosphere, according to researchers, is how quickly greenhouse gases will be released?
This means that there are two possible scenarios: One where ice-rich soil melts slowly releasing methane over centuries or millennia and another one where it happens rapidly, sending vast amounts into the atmosphere all at once. Some scientists have said that this could lead to an abrupt shift in climate leading to runaway global warming just like what happened back during Permian Period – 250 million years ago.
