Named Panagrolaimus kolymaensis—after the Kolyma River in Russia, where it was found—the worm has survived the Earth since Neanderthals and woolly mammoths still walked the land|2023 Shatilovich et al|CC BY 4.0

Scientists stumbled upon a nematode roundworm that has managed to stretch its life expectancy by going dormant under Siberian permafrost 46,000 years ago. It was revived by simply placing it in water.

Details of the findings were published in PLOS Genetics journal last week.

Named Panagrolaimus kolymaensis—after the Kolyma River in Russia, where it was found—the worm has survived the Earth since Neanderthals and woolly mammoths still walked the land. 

It was able to do so by going into cryptobiosis, a stage where it stops eating and doesn’t have a metabolism.

Previously worms have survived severe environments—like Chile’s Atacama Desert—in similar ways but only for 40 years.