Sweet smell from permafrost fossils?

[gen]

Hello everyone,

 

I noticed a sweet smell coming from my ice age mammoth fossils.

 

Any idea what it may be?

 

Thanks,

Jay

[steelhead9]

Where were they found?

[gen]

They were from the Russian permafrost.

 

Jay

[Fruitbat]

It is not unusual for permafrost 'fossils' to develop an odor (some say..a 'stench') because many of them aren't truly mineralized in the way you generally think of fossils being mineralized.  Because they are often frozen rather than fossilized, many permafrost fossils still contain a large amount of organic material which can provide a fertile breeding ground for all sorts of micro-organisms.  Do you happen to know how your fossils were prepared/preserved?

 

-Joe

[Nimravis]

3 hours ago, Fruitbat said:

It is not unusual for permafrost 'fossils' to develop an odor (some say..a 'stench') because many of them aren't truly mineralized in the way you generally think of fossils being mineralized.  Because they are often frozen rather than fossilized, many permafrost fossils still contain a large amount of organic material which can provide a fertile breeding ground for all sorts of micro-organisms.  Do you happen to know how your fossils were prepared/preserved?

 

-Joe

After reading what Joe wrote, it reminded me of the Val Kilmer movie The Thaw. In the movie ancient deadly organisms are released from a permafrost mammoth or other animal. 

[gen]

I actually have no idea how they were prepared. There seems to be some slight glue residue in the cracks, but other than that they seem pretty raw.

 

I certainly hope the microbes in there aren't dangerous!