Squirell seeds survive 30,000 year freeze

[tangor]

About 30,000 years ago, a squirrel saved some fruits in a burrow that was frozen over, and stayed that way ever since. Now, Russian scientists have not only recovered the seeds – they’ve grown viable plants from them.

[theregister.co.uk...]
This is internet related because I found it on the internet. :P

[bhonda]

Didn't that squirrel-thing do this in that Ice Age film?

[lucy24]

Yes, but have they persuaded a modern squirrel to eat them? That's the acid test.

Inquiring minds would also like to know how they determined it was a squirrel rather than, say, a vole or a lemming or a rabbit or some other burrowing critter. Apparently the squirrel did not die guarding its stash, which would have been my first guess. Now, if they'd also cloned the late squirrel, and it ate the seeds...

[ectect]

If they had found the squirrel's nuts rather than seeds, would they have then been able to clone the squirrel?

[Marshall]

Sort of related Russian Scientists Bore Into Ancient Antarctic Lake [nytimes.com]

Marshall

[Essex_boy]

I first thought, wonder what happened to the squirrel.....