MOSCOW (AP) — The remains of a 50,000-year-old baby mammoth uncovered by melting permafrost in Russia’s Siberia have been unveiled to the public.
Nicknamed Yana, the female mammoth weighs more than 100 kilograms 220 pounds and is 120 centimeters (47 inches) tall and 200 centimeters (79 inches) long.
Scientists believe that Yana was only 1 year old when she died some 50,000 years ago. They have described her remains, one of seven mammoth carcasses recovered worldwide, as the best-preserved mammoth body ever found.
Yana was found among the melting permafrost at the Batagaika crater in the far-eastern Russian region of Yakutia. Known as the “gateway to the underworld”, the crater is 1 kilometer deep and has previously revealed the remains of other ancient animals, including bison and horses.
Yana will now be studied by scientists at Russia’s North-Eastern Federal University, which has its own dedicated mammoth research center and museum.
The university described the find as “exceptional” and said it would give researchers new information about how mammoths lived and adapted to their surroundings.
