Science is Fun Fridays!

 

The Bdelloid rotifer was discovered in the permafrost of Siberia, where it has lived for 24,000 years!

These multicellular animals are known for surviving extreme conditions - starvation, freezing temperatures, low oxygen, even ionizing radiation.  But scientists did not know they could endure dormancy for so long.

Once it was thawed, it was able to reproduce asexually, no problemo.

They used radiocarbon dating to verify the age of the rotifer, and will study further to understand how exactly it was able to remain in a state of cryptobiosis for so long.  Previous research said they could survive only 10 years frozen.

The team drilled into the permafrost along the Alayeza River and samples were taken to the Soil Cryology Lab at the Institute for Physiochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, located in Pushchino, Russia.

The lab specializes in separating microscopic organisms from the permafrost and have successfully regenerated several multicellular animals, mosses, and plants after thousands of years of slumber.

"The takeaway is that a multicellular organism can be frozen and stored for thousands of years and then return back to life - a dream of many fiction writers," said Stas Malavin.

The name rotifer comes from the Latin word for "wheel bearer."

Here they are in action:

BBC
World and Science