dpa
Once thawed, the beings were even able to reproduce as a virgin, i.e. without a partner, as the researchers reported on Monday in the journal Current Biology.
The scientists had previously discovered unicellular microbes that were able to perform similarly. Roundworms, mosses and some plants that were 30,000 years old were also regenerated from the ice.
Rotifers could now also be added to the list of organisms that can seemingly survive indefinitely, said study co-author Stas Malavin. The report is the strongest evidence yet that multicellular animals can survive tens of thousands of years in cryptobiosis, a condition in which metabolism comes to an almost complete halt.
Rotifers are about half a millimeter long multicellular cells that usually live in fresh water or its surroundings. Malavin and his colleagues now want to find out what mechanisms they use to survive such long “rest periods”.