Scientists discover the corpse of a 50,000-year-old mammoth calf

Russian scientists have unveiled the remains of a 50,000-year-old mammoth calf found in thawed permafrost in the remote Yakutia region of Siberia during the summer.

“Yana”, named after the river basin where it was discovered, is said to be the best preserved mammoth carcass in the world.

Weighing over 100kg (15lb), standing 120cm (4ft) tall and 200cm long, Yana is estimated to have been just one year old when she died.

Before this discovery, only six similar discoveries had been found in the world: five in Russia and one in Canada.

Yana was found in Batagaika Crater, the largest permafrost (permanently frozen ground) crater in the world, by people who lived nearby.

The residents “were in the right place at the right time,” said Mammoth Museum Laboratory director Lazarev.

“They saw that the mammoth had almost completely thawed” and decided to build a makeshift stretcher to lift the mammoth to the surface, Maxim Cherpasov said.

“As a rule, the part that thaws first, especially the trunk, is usually eaten by modern predators or birds,” he told Reuters news agency.

But “although the forelimbs have already been eaten, the head is remarkably well preserved,” he added.

A researcher at the museum, Gavril Novgorodov, told Reuters that the mammoth “probably became trapped” in a swamp and “was thus preserved for several tens of thousands of years.”

Yana is studying at the Northeastern Federal University in Yakutsk, the region’s capital.

Scientists are now conducting tests to confirm when he died.

It is not the only prehistoric discovery that has been found in Russia’s vast permafrost in recent years. as long-frozen ground begins to thaw due to climate change.

Last month, scientists from the same region showed the remains of a partial mummified body of a saber-toothed catIt is believed to be just under 32,000 years old.

And earlier this year the remains of a 44,000-year-old wolf were also discovered.