Russia presented on Monday the remarkably well-preserved remains of a 50,000 year old mammoth calffound this summer in the Russian Far North, a scientific discovery of great importance.
This female mammoth was named “Lana”, by the river in whose basin it was foundin Yakutia, a sparsely populated territory.
His body was presented in front of the scientific community on Monday at the Northwestern Federal University in Yakutsk, the regional capital, the academic institution announced in a statement.
«The exceptional conservation of this mammoth has surprised us all: there is no loss of head, trunk, ears or mouth, nor visible damage or deformation», explained Anatoli Nikolaïev, the university’s rector, according to the statement.
The best preserved mammoth specimen in the world
Lana, which may be the best preserved mammoth specimen in the world, weighs 180 kilograms and measures 120 centimeters high, and less than two meters long.
“This discovery will provide information on the ontogeny of mammothstheir adaptive characteristics, the paleoecological conditions of their habitats and other aspects,” the university celebrated.
Lana could be the best preserved mammoth specimen in the world
Studies are planned to determine Iana’s exact age, which is estimated at “a year or a little more.” His 50,000-year-old corpse was discovered this summer on the territory of the Batagaika research station, where other remains of prehistoric animals have already been found.
Before Iana, only six mammoth skeletons had been discovered in the world: five in Russia and one in Canada, according to the university.
In Yakutia, an isolated region with an area similar to Argentina and bordered by the Arctic Ocean, permafrost acts as a gigantic freezer that preserves prehistoric animalsespecially mammoths. In recent years, the Batagaïka station has found remains of prehistoric horses and bison, as well as the mummy of a leminox.
#find #baby #mammoth #carcass #hidden #years
