Dragon Eggs Found in Arctic
February 10, 2019
Scientists at the Uedineniya Polar Station have unearthed the frozen remains of ancient dragon nests in the Arctic circle. Found in an area where the average temperature for the warmest month of the year is below 50°F, the fossilized remains of dragon eggs were well-preserved at very low temperatures, and scientists believe that some of the eggs may be viable. They theorize that they can resurrect Draconus arcticus by using fossilized sperm to inseminate the eggs and bring dragon species back from extinction.
How can this be possible?
Climate change is occurring everywhere on earth. Chaotic weather events, rising global temperatures, the melting of ice sheets - all of these changes are causing us to have to adapt to our changing planet. In the tundra, the permafrost is melting, and this may bring with it threats to our health and opportunities to reintroduce extinct species.
Permafrost is the frozen layer of soil found in the extremely cold parts of the northern hemisphere. This frozen ground made of rocks, soil and anything trapped in that layer has been solidly frozen for a minimum of two years, and in some cases, thousands of years. Higher than average temperatures are causing the permafrost in some areas to thaw, rippling roads and uncovering the dead bodies of animals frozen for many years. Mining and drilling in these areas can bring these frozen bodies out into the open where warmer surface temperatures can defrost them at a faster rate.
What else is lurking in that frozen ground?
In 2013, a wooly mammoth was discovered in the melting permafrost of Siberia. This 43,000-year-old specimen was found with liquid blood in its veins, part of the head intact and three legs. Scientists are working on extracting a complete copy of the animal's genome in order to clone the mammoth.
In 2016 a once-frozen reindeer carcass infected with the Anthrax virus was exposed to the air. Reindeer in the area fell ill, as well as many members of a tribe of nomadic reindeer herders. 72 people were hospitalized and one young boy died from exposure to anthrax.
Other microbes and bacteria can also survive after being frozen in a dark, oxygen-free environment for years. Smallpox, bubonic plague, the Spanish flu and ancient viruses may come to the surface in dead animals who thaw and then are revived. then be able to infect animals and people nearby.
De-extinction
The process of resurrecting animals which have gone extinct
Permafrost
Read more about how thawing permafrost is affecting communities in the Arctic Circle by clicking here
