Russian researchers on Monday unveiled the remarkably well-preserved remains of a 50,000-year-old female baby. mammoth found in thawing permafrost in the Yakutia region of Siberia.
The remains of the mammoth – nicknamed “Yana” in homage to the river in whose basin it was discovered this summer – constitute the best preserved mammoth carcass in the world. Experts said it was one of only seven entire remains ever discovered.
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It is estimated that Yana was only about a year old when she died, weighed more than 397 pounds and was approximately 4 feet and 200 centimeters long.
“We were all surprised by exceptional conservation mammoth,” said Anatoly Nikolayev, rector of the North-Eastern Federal University, where the carcass is on display.
The mammoth, which resembles a small elephant with a trunk, was discovered near the Batagaika research station where the remains of other prehistoric animals — a horse, a bison and a lemming — were also found.
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Maxim Cherpasov, director of the laboratory of the Lazarev Mammoth Museum in the city of Yakutsk, said Reuters that the fact that the head and trunk of the animal had survived was particularly unusual.
“Typically, the part that thaws first, especially the trunk, is often eaten by modern predators or birds. Here, for example, even though the forelimbs have already been eaten, the head is remarkably well preserved,” Cherpasov said.
Roman Kutukov / REUTERS
Before this discovery, only six mammoth carcasses had been found in the world – five in Russia and one in Canadathe university said.
Yakutia is a remote region bordering the Arctic Ocean. Its permafrost acts as a giant freezer that preserves the remains of prehistoric animals.