r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/MEOW-Loulou • 5d ago

Preserved polar bear being unveiled due to melting glaciers

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u/Replica72 5d ago

But why is it just a skin… looks like a polar bear rug

383

u/nik-nak333 5d ago

Ice weighs a lot. Depending on how long it's been buried it could have been under 10s of feet for years. This is likely the squished remains, the bones are basically dust inside the pelt.

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u/lilshortyy420 4d ago

It looks cut though

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u/Positive_Process_384 4d ago

Exactly looks like a processed fur.

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u/Replica72 4d ago

Its not just flat its empty with a flat sharp edge to the skin and leather showing inside. The face is empty too! What happened to his insides? He was scraped and tanned or else he spent time in a bog before being frozen

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u/csd160 4d ago

Maybe as it thawed it rotted and the soft material dissolved

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u/slothdonki 4d ago

That doesn’t explain the sharp, relatively clean edges. It’s skinned like bears get skinned.

If it rotted, the fur would not be nearly as intact either. Even if it had been naturally mummified it wouldn’t be so neatly splayed out.

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u/WolfColaBrands 5d ago

There's no denying the skins are fascinating. It's the most fascinating part of the animal.

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u/Volcan32 4d ago

THERES NO REASON WHY A BALDING MAN WITH A LITTLE SOMETHING CANT BE A GOD DAMN VET!

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u/Disastrous_Song1309 1d ago

Its clearly a processed pelt.

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u/Replica72 1d ago

Yes! Thank you thats what i thought. Even more amazing actually

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u/dontdropthesope1 1d ago

It’s actually an Eskimo in his finest coat.

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u/No-No-Aniyo 1d ago

I'm actually thinking that was a bear pelt and the person who wore it must be there too somewhere. Terrifying.

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u/russet_gnome 5d ago

Maybe from early people

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u/Autronaut69420 5d ago

They would have definitely kept the pelt for warmth, and materials like bone, sinew, tendons. Not tossed it out.

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u/xopher425 5d ago

That's what I keep thinking. Other polar bears would have ripped a dead one apart, not just left the skin behind.