Gold miners in Russia, within Siberia’s Sakha Republic, accidentally discovered the immaculately preserved mummy of an extinct woolly rhinoceros, including a remarkably well-preserved horn and even some soft tissue left on the corpse. They came across the body while excavating the site of a future quarry.
After the remarkable discovery, scientists at Russia’s North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) came to the site and excavated the animal's horn, according to Live Science. Experts from the NEFU plan to exhume the rest of the mummified woolly rhino in the coming months.
Scientists stress that the discovery of preserved soft tissue is remarkably rare. It will allow researchers to gain unparalleled perspective into the woolly rhino’s daily life as well as its environment around the time it died.
Conditions in Siberia are particularly friendly to preservation, as the frequently cold weather naturally mummifies the remains, dehydrating the soft tissues and creating something of a “time capsule” for those lucky enough to exhume them.
"This is a truly unique find that will allow us to study the history of the region, its ancient fauna, climate, and geological conditions in more depth," Anatoly Nikolaev, director of the NEFU, said in the statement.
Michiel Yakovlev/NEFU
Michiel Yakovlev/NEFU
Maxim Cheprasov, senior researcher and head of the laboratory of the NEFU Mammoth Museum, confirmed that the find was a first for his museum and the NEFU. "Until today, there was no such rare find in the collection of the Mammoth Museum," Cheprasov said. "In the modern history of NEFU, this is the first such find."
Cheprasov added that this is only the fifth time in history that a woolly rhino has been found with intact soft tissue. He and other researchers will exhume the rest of the creature's remains after they examine its horn, which has already provided them with one notable key fact.
"According to morphological parameters, it belonged to a mature individual," Cheprasov explained. "The exact biological age and sex of the animal will be determined after a comprehensive study of the carcass itself."
Wooly rhinos first appeared about 300,000 years ago across northern Eurasia. As the ice age came to an end, they died off until there were only a small number left in Siberia. They finally went extinct about 10,000 years ago due to human activity and climate change.
