A PAIR of cave lion cubs that died up to 44,000 years ago were found perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost.
One starved to death and the other may have been crushed by falling rocks, both having possibly been abandoned by their mothers.
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When the cubs were dug up in 2018, it was believed that they were male siblings who had died around 44,000 years ago.
But it turns out that the youngest cub was actually female, and died roughly 26,000 years ago, as revealed by the Siberian Times.
She has been renamed from Spartak to Sparta after further research revealed the truth about her origins.
It emerged that she died of hunger, likely after being abandoned by her mother.
Alternatively, the cub’s mum may have simply failed to find food, or had been 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed herself.
“She starved to death,” said Dr Albert Protopopov, an expert on frozen remains who worked on the remains.
“We wondered why she looked so skinny when she was found, and then tomography of her internal organs showed there was no fat.
“It was the most extreme stage of starvation.”
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Sparta was found frozen 10 metres away another larger cave lion cub named Boris.
Boris died roughly 44,000 years ago, and was aged just two or three weeks when he died.
He may also have been left by his mother inside a cave, and was possibly 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed by collapsing cave rock.
“We found visible traces of internal injuries, which we believe could have been caused by rock falling on him,” said Protopopov.
