By The Moscow Times | Created at 2024-12-23 14:35:26 | Updated at 2024-12-23 18:33:35
4 hours ago
s-vfu.ru
Russian scientists on Monday showed off the remarkably well-preserved remains of a baby mammoth found in the Siberian republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
The 50,000-year-old female mammoth has been nicknamed Yana after the river in whose basin it was discovered this summer.
Experts say Yana is the best preserved mammoth carcass in the world and is one of only seven whole remains ever found.
Studies will now be carried out to work out her exact age at death, estimated at "one year old or a bit more."
The carcass was shown at the Federal University of the North East in the regional capital of Yakutsk, the institution said in a statement.
"We were all surprised by the exceptional preservation of the mammoth," university rector Anatoly Nikolayev said.
Researcher Maxim Cheprasov said it was a "unique discovery."
The remains weigh 180 kilograms (397 pounds) and are 120 centimeters (four feet) tall and 200 centimeters long.
The carcass was dug up near the Batagaika research station where the remains of other prehistoric animals — a horse, a bison and a lemming — have also been found.
Before this discovery, only six mammoth carcasses had been found in the world — five in Russia and one in Canada — the university said.
Sakha is a remote region bordering the Arctic Ocean. Its permafrost acts like a giant freezer that preserves the remains of prehistoric animals.
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