Perfectly preserved lion cubs that died 44,000 years ago

Boris, the older cub, has a severed tail.

This led to speculation he was an ancient lynx not a cave lion.

‘We were all worried by the lack of a tail on Boris,’ said Dr Protopopov.

‘But the man who found him explained that it got cut off when the cub was taken out of the permafrost.

‘I know it raised suspicion that the lion cub was in fact a lynx, but we know from the very first tests that this was clearly a cave lion cub.’