Perfectly preserved cave lion may be coming back after 50,000-year extinction nap

Russian scientists revealed a 20,000 to 50,000-year-old cave lion cub Thursday capable of being cloned and brought back from the depths of extinction. The cave cub was found on the bank of the Tirekhtykh River by a local resident, according to The Siberian Times. Researchers believe the cub died when it was around 2 months old.

One of the researchers told the Siberian paper its "perfect" condition makes it a potential candidate for cloning.

Video (below) shows researchers taking the stiff furball out of a sinister-looking briefcase and presenting it to the press. There's something both adorable and macabre when seeing the environmentally preserved cub in a state of eternal slumber. Russia should probably leave this little guy or girl alone and let its subspecies rest. Via The Siberian Times:

Expert Dr Albert Protopopov said: 'It is a perfectly preserved lion cub, all the limbs have survived. There are no traces of external injuries on the skin.'

The preservation is so good that it raises hopes of cloning the species back to life, he said.

The discovery is seen as better preserved than two tiny cave lion cubs found in the same Siberian region in 2015.