A group of scientists in Russia claim to have revived a pair of frozen nematodes, or roundworms, that were between 30,000 and 42,000 years old. One of the specimens was found in a soil sample collected from a ground squirrel burrow located around 100 feet underground, and other burrows nearby have been radiocarbon dated to be around 32,000 years old. A second viable nematode was found in a permafrost sample approximately 41,700 years old collected around 11 feet below the surface.
The samples were stored in a laboratory at around -4 degrees Fahrenheit. Isolated nematodes were then later brought up to 68 degrees and surrounded by food. After several weeks of cultivation, the nematodes began showing signs of life and reportedly began moving and eating. “Thus, our data demonstrate the ability of multicellular organisms to survive long-term (tens of thousands of years) cryobiosis under the conditions of natural cryoconservation,” the researchers said in a study published in Doklady Biological Sciences.
While other studies have shown that some species of nematodes can survive extreme environments — such as 25.5 years in below-freezing temperatures and 39 years of dessication — this study appears to be the first to demonstrate nematode survival after such an extreme length of time.