A team of scientists from Russia, Hungary and the United States recovered frozen Silene species Caryophyllaceae, Silene stenophylla seeds and remains from the Pleistocene-age (1.806 million years to 11,500 years BP) in 2007, while investigating about 70 ancient ground squirrel (genus Urocitellus Geomys ssp) hibernation burrows or caches, hidden in permanently frozen loess-ice deposits Usually the rodents would eat the food in their larders, but in this case a flood or other weather event buried the whole area.
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Radiocarbon decays slowly in a living organism, and the amount lost is continually replenished as long as the organism takes in air or food.
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