Tag Archives: mummy

Cheetah Discovered Preserved as a Mummy in a Cave in Saudi Arabia

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One of the mummified cheetahs found in a cave

Ahmed Boug et al. 2025/Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Wildlife

Recent findings report the discovery of seven cheetah mummies, dating back thousands of years, in caves located in Saudi Arabia.

The cheetah (acinonyx jubatus) populations have seen drastic reductions due to habitat destruction, hunting, and the wildlife trade, leading to their disappearance from the Arabian Peninsula several decades ago. Ahmed Boug and his associates at the National Wildlife Centre in Riyadh revealed details about these seven mummified cheetahs along with 54 skeletal sites found in the Lauga Cave Network in northern Saudi Arabia during the years 2022 and 2023.

The mummies, preserved through a unique process that inhibits decomposition, date back approximately 4,000 to 100 years.

“These discoveries are incredibly significant,” states Anne Schmidt Künzel from the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. “While the mummification of Negrids isn’t wholly unexpected, this marks a groundbreaking and important find.”

“The stable temperature and low humidity in the cave environment likely aided the mummification process,” the researchers noted.

The reason for the cheetahs’ presence in the cave remains a mystery, as these animals typically do not utilize caves as dens or for storing carcasses. At the time of investigation, none of the five caves revealed any water supply.

Many of the remains were located in caves accessible solely via sinkholes, leading Schmidt Künzel to propose that the cheetahs may have fallen and become trapped. Additionally, remains of other animals including insects, wolves, striped hyenas, gazelles, and red foxes were also discovered here.

Upon examining 20 complete cheetah skulls, researchers found that six belonged to adults, while the rest were from individuals aged between 6 and 24 months. There were also nine cub skeletons located in the primary cave. The abundance of young cheetahs indicates that adult females might have used the cave for collective protection, according to Schmidt Künzel.

Camera traps set up during the investigation indicated that wolves were also using these caves. “This implies that during the cheetah’s lifespan, they may have frequented several, if not all, of these caves, enabling them to enter intentionally,” Schmidt Künzel added.

While there is only one species of cheetah, it is divided into four genetically distinct subspecies. The Southeast African cheetah (acinonyx jubatus jubatus) is the most populous, while the Northeast African cheetah (acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii) and Northwest African cheetah (acinonyx jubatus heck) exist in smaller, fragmented groups. The Asian cheetah (acinonyx jubatus venaticus), meanwhile, has very few remaining members in Iran.

Boug and his team sequenced the genomes of three sets of artifacts. Their research indicated that the mummified individuals are most closely related to the Asian subspecies, currently found in that region.

Schmidt-Künzel emphasizes that this work supports the notion that all cheetah subspecies can adapt to similar arid conditions, making it feasible to reintroduce them to the area through selective breeding of African subspecies.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Uncovering Human “Ghosts” through the DNA of a 7,000-Year-Old Mummy

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Today, the Sahara desert is one of the least popular places on our planet. But that wasn’t always the case.

Returning the clock to 7,000 years, the Sahara is a lush green savanna filled with wildlife and dotted with lakes containing one of the sizes of modern Germany. In other words, it was the perfect place for our ancient ancestors to settle down.

But who were they? We may finally know.

Scientists analyzed the DNA of two naturally occurring mummy individuals from a shelter in Takalkori rock in what is now southwestern Libya. Their discoveries reveal something extraordinary. These ancient people belonged to previously unknown branches of human family trees.

The two women belonged to the so-called “ghost population.” This is something that modern humans have only seen glimpses of as faint genetic echoes, but they have not been seen in the body.

“These samples come from some of the oldest mummies in the world.” Professor Johannes Krause senior author of the new study said BBC Science Focus. He explained that it is surprising that genomic sequencing is absolutely possible because high-temperature conditions tend to decompose such information.

View from the Takalkolilock Shelter in southern Libya. – Archaeological mission at the Sahara University of Sapienza, Rome

Genomic sequencing is the process of reading a complete set of genetic instructions found in the DNA of an organism, a type of biological blueprint.

Previous studies have examined mitochondrial DNA in mummies, which is much more limited. It is passed only through the maternal line and is much shorter than the complete genome found in the cell nucleus.

“There are about 16,000 base pairs in mitochondrial DNA,” Klaus said. “It may sound a lot, but compared to the entire 3.2 billion genome, it’s just a small portion.”

So what have the team discovered from this new, unlocked genetic treasure trove?

First, they discovered that this lost lineage had split from sub-Saharan African ancestors about 50,000 years ago.

Surprisingly, this group remained genetically isolated from other human groups for tens of thousands of years.

“It’s incredible,” Klaus said. “When they were alive, these people were like most fossils, like things they shouldn’t be there. If I had said these genomes were 40,000 years old, I would have believed it.”

View of the Takarkoli rock shelter under excavation in southern Libya. – Archaeological mission at the Sahara University of Sapienza, Rome

This long-term quarantine reveals two key insights. First, the “Green Sahara,” which continued 15,000 to 5,000 years ago, was a lush human habitat, but as many scientists had previously envisioned, it was not useful as a moving corridor between the north and sub-Saharan Africa.

Second, there was genetic mixing with northern populations, including Neanderthals. But it was limited – much less than the non-African population, carrying about 10 times more Neanderthal DNA than the Takalkori people.

We know that these people were idyllics and meant that they kept livestock like cows. But they
Genetic segregation suggests that this lifestyle was adopted by exchanging knowledge and practice with neighbouring groups rather than moving or subsequent genetic mixing. Again, this is a surprise to scientists.

Unsolved puzzles

The whole mummy genome sequence revealed much about this lost human lineage. Still, there are many more mysteries left.

“The Sahara greening only happened 15,000 years ago. Before that, it was once again desert,” Klaus said. “So we don’t really know where they were strolling around 50,000 years ago, when they split from the population of Africa’s southern Africa, and 15,000 years ago.”

Wherever they went, they must have remained isolated for tens of thousands of years. Perhaps the lost Eden? We may never know.

“That’s a real mystery,” Klaus added.

Krause’s research was published in Nature.

About our experts

Johannes Kraus is the director of the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology at the Ministry of Archaeology’s Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. He is also a professor of archaeology at the Institute of Zoology and Evolution at Jena, University of Friedrich Schiller, Germany. Krause is a predominantly peer-reviewed journal, with over 250 publications. Nature, Science, Cells, Nature reviews genetics. In 2010 he was awarded the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Award and the 2017 Thuringian Research Award for Top Performance in Basic Research.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

First-ever examination of a frozen mummy of a Saber-toothed tiger dating back 35,000 years

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Attention all ‘Ice Age’ enthusiasts: New research has uncovered the preserved remains of a 35,000-year-old saber-toothed cat which have been analyzed for the very first time. Published on Thursday in Scientific Reports.

The mummified remains of the animal, including parts of the head, arms, and chest, were unearthed in Yakutia, Russia, in 2020 in remarkably good condition, and were determined to belong to a three-week-old baby, as per the study findings.

The most distinct features of the cub were its small ears, long neck and forearms, dark brown fur, and wide mouth, according to the researchers. Comparison with modern lion cubs of the same age suggests that these cat mummies are part of the Machairodontinae subfamily, specifically the Homotherium genus – a cat with sharply curved saber teeth that thrived in North America and Europe between 12 million and 10,000 years ago.

A. shows a frozen mummy and B. shows the remains of a modern lion cub, Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758).Lopatin, AV, Sotnikova, MV, Klimovsky, AI, and others

Based on the study, the Homotherium cat’s ears were positioned higher on the skull and its mouth opening was 11-19% larger compared to modern lion cubs. Additionally, the neck was described as “longer and more than twice as thick” than that of present-day felines.

For those who enjoy the Ice Age film series, the depiction of saber-toothed cats might seem familiar. The character Diego, a saber-toothed tiger, shares similarities with the 35,000-year-old baby tiger.

This study marks the first investigation of this kind of site.

“For the first time in paleontological history, the characteristics of an extinct mammal with no modern counterparts have been examined,” noted the study authors.

Attempts to reach the study’s corresponding author for comment were unsuccessful at the time of publication.

Source: www.nbcnews.com