6 May 2026
Researchers at the University of Tyumen have described a previously unknown species of predatory unicellular eukaryote that remained viable in permafrost since the Late Pleistocene. The living culture was isolated from a permafrost sediment core recovered at a depth of approximately nine meters from the second fluvial terrace of the Kheigiyakha River in the Nadym District of Western Siberia. Radiometric dating indicates that the deposits are approximately 39,000 years old.
The findings have been published in the journal European Journal of Protistology.