An international team of scientists has revived a roundworm that spent several tens of thousands of years in permafrost, reports “MIR 24”.

The worm was found in the Siberian permafrost at a depth of about 40 meters. Scientists analyzed the plant material preserved near it and determined that the age of the sediment layer ranges from 45 839 to 47 769 years.

Scientists not only revived the worm in the laboratory, but also analyzed the genome. The results showed that it belongs to the recently described species Panagrolaimus kolymaensis. According to the source, this is the most ancient creature that survived cryptobiosis (suspension of life due to adverse conditions) and managed to “reborn”.

The longest time recorded in cryptobiosis among living worms is only 39 years. The revived worm Panagrolaimus kolymaensis surpassed this record by tens of thousands of years.

Research has also shown that it shares similar genes with its modern cousin Caenorhabditis elegans. Many of these genes are associated with survival in harsh environments and have been found to help individual worm species survive in a frozen state for entire geological epochs.

In the future, scientists intend to establish whether there is an upper limit to the survival of worms in this form.