World of Arctic Animals 75,000 years old discovered in the Norwegian cave

A cave in Norway is 46 -year -old remains species. The discovery shows how animals adapted to the cold had difficulty in climate change.

The researchers discovered the remains of a large animal community that prospered in the European Arctic about 75,000 years ago.

In a cave along the northern coast of Norway, they identified bones of 46 different species of mammals, fish and birds. This remarkable discovery represents the first known evidence of an animal community in the European Arctic during a warmer stage in the ice age.

The details of the study were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNA).

According to the research team, these fossils offer precious clues to the way Arctic fauna has once adapted to major climate change, knowledge that could be essential to guide modern conservation efforts.

Rare overview of Arctic Life

“These discoveries provide a rare snapshot of a missing Arctic world,” said the first author of the study, Dr. Sam Walker of the University of Bournemouth and the and the University of Oslo. “They also emphasize how vulnerable species can be vulnerable in changing climatic conditions, which can help us understand their resilience and their risk of extinction in the present,” he added.

The remains included species such as polar bear, walrus, artistic head whale, the puff of the Atlantic, the common eider, the rocky ptarmigan and the Atlantic cod. The team also discovered Collar Lemmings bones, a species now extinct in Europe and previously unknown in Scandinavia until this discovery.

The genetic analysis revealed that the lines of these animals do not persist once cold climatic conditions had returned.

Secrets of Arne Qvamgrotta cave

“We have very little evidence of the life of the Arctic during this period due to the lack of conservation of more than 10,000 years,” said the principal professor of author Sanne Boessenkool of the University of Oslo. “The cave has now revealed a diversified mix of animals in a coastal ecosystem representing both the marine and terrestrial environment,” she added.

The Arne Qvamgrotta cave was discovered for the first time in the 1990s during the construction of tunnel by a local mining company. For almost three decades, it remained mainly intact, until the researchers put major excavations in 2021 and 2022 which finally revealed its hidden content.

The variety of animals suggests that habitat at the time was largely without ice along the coast after the glaciers melted. This would have provided an appropriate habitat for the migratory reindeer of which they discovered the remains.

Climate change challenges for colds adapted to cold

The presence of freshwater fish means that there would have been lakes and rivers in the tundra, and there must have been sea ice off the coast for some of the mammals, such as arc whales and bites. Sea ice cream was likely to be seasonal because the porpoises of the port, also found among the remains of animals, are known to avoid ice.

Although these animals colonized the region after the glaciers melted during this period, it seems that whole populations are dead because they could not migrate to alternative ecosystems when the ice returned and covered the landscape.

“This underlines how species adapted to cold have trouble adapting to major climatic events. This has a direct link with the challenges they face in the Arctic today while the climate warms up at a quick pace, “said Dr. Walker. “The habitats of these animals in the region live today are much more fractured than 75,000 years ago, so it is even more difficult for animal populations to move and adapt,” he added.

“It is also important to note that it was a passage to a period of warmer warming, no warming we face today,” said Professor Boessenkool. “And these are species adapted to cold-so if they have trouble facing colder periods in the past, it will be even more difficult for these species to adapt to a warming climate,” she concluded.

Reference: “A 75,000-Y–Ob Scandinavian Arctic Cave Deposit Reveals Past Faunal and Paleoenvironment” by Samuel J. Walker, Aurélie Boilard, Mona Henriksen, Edana Lord, Marius Robu, Jan-Pieter, Liselotte, Liselotte, Liselotte, Liselotte, Liselotte, Liselotte, Liselotte, Liselotte Liselotte, Liselotte, Liselotot. Mr. Cintrón-Santiago, Emma Katrin Onshuus, Christopher Alan Cockerill, Gabor Umvari, László Palcsu, Marjan Temovski, Jenny Maccali, Henriette Linge, Jesper Olsen, Sverre Aksnes, Anastasia Berthe, Ola Løgre, Olagre, Olagre, Ola Lande, Ola Lande. Star, Anne Karin Hufthammer, Thijs Van Kolfschoten, Stein-Erik Lauritzen, Trond Klungseth Lødøen and Sanne Boessenkool, August 4, 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073 / PNAS.2415008122

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