The world’s ‘best-preserved’ woolly mammoth has been found in the Siberian basin known as the Mouth of Hell.
The bird, named Yana, was more than 50,000 years old and apparently suffered a severe back injury during the Ice Age. He was killed when he was one year old.
Others were preserved in permafrost in the Batagai megaslump, a rapidly growing thermokarst. depression in the Yakutia region Russiawhich can be seen from space and is called the Gateway to the Underworld.
Of the seven woolly mammoths found in the world – six of them in Russia – Yana is the most stable, and her trunk is in good shape and ‘specially preserved’.
The ‘mysterious’ remains were discovered this summer but have now been announced by Russian scientists. The animal was 4 meters long when it withered, weighing about 180kg – or 28 stone, or about 400lbs.
The parts of those animals had been spoken by sparrows or other small animals long ago, but all the parts remain.
The best-preserved bird in the world, Yana (pictured), has been found in the Siberian basin known as the Mouth of Hell.
Researchers Gavril Novgorodov and Erel Struchkov pose for a photo next to the remains of a 50,000-year-old cub found in a Siberian forest in the Batagaika Valley of Yakutia, Russia on June 13, 2024.
Yana, pictured here, lived to be over 50,000 years old and apparently suffered a severe back injury during the Ice Age. He was killed when he was one year old
Maxim Cheprasov, head of the laboratory of the Mammoth Museum, North Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, said: “The research showed that the head is specially preserved, like all the organs.
‘This is very good. The trunk, lips, ears, eye sockets are preserved – they are not eaten by predators.
‘We have already seen that the parts were eaten, perhaps by sparrows or small animals, but the trunk and other parts of the head were specially preserved.
‘Unfortunately, the spine was damaged, because apparently it fell on its back.’
Locals visiting the valley ‘saw that more than half of the baby mammoths had already melted into the wall of the sinkhole’.
The back of the animal was found separately, and is also preserved, but was not shown when the find was revealed.
A major test will be conducted on the baby mammoth next year.
The ‘mysterious’ remains were discovered this summer but have now been announced by Russian scientists. The animal was 4 meters long at the withers, weighing about 180kg – or 28 stone, or about 400lbs.
Maxim Cheprasov, head of the laboratory of the Mammoth Museum, North Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, said “the trunk, lips, ears, eye sockets of Yana are preserved – they were not eaten by enemies”.
Researchers stand behind a glass wall as they display the remains of a male cub, said to be more than 50,000 years old and found in the Siberian permafrost in the Batagaika valley of Yakutia’s Verkhoyansky region, during an exhibition held in the laboratory. Mammoth Museum at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Russia on December 23, 2024
Yana’s organs were eaten, perhaps by sparrows or small animals, but the trunk and other parts of the head were specially preserved, researchers said.
Yana was preserved in permafrost in the Batagai megaslump (pictured in June 2023) – a rapidly growing thermokarst depression in the Yakutia region of Russia, which is visible from space and is also known as the Gateway to the Underworld.
The large tadpole-shaped hole – also called Batagaika – is 330ft deep and around 3,300ft long, and 2,650ft wide.
Estimates show that the valley releases up to 5,000 tons of organic carbon per year, causing the emissions to increase as permafrost thaw continues.
Yana is the latest in a series of remarkable discoveries in Russian permafrost.
Scientists have also discovered a baby horse that has been preserved for a short period of time. The foal – 42,170 years old – came from the cold-resistant Lenskaya breed, which is now extinct.
Last month, researchers in the vast northeastern region – known as Sakha or Yakutia – revealed the 32,000-year-old remains of a small cat, while earlier this year a 44,000-year-old wolf carcass was unearthed.
The back of the animal was found separately, and is also preserved, but was not shown when the find was revealed. The main test will be conducted on Yana (pictured) next year
Yana’s body, pictured here, was excavated near a research site in Batagaika where the remains of other prehistoric animals – a horse, a buffalo and a lemming – were also found.
