In brief
Russian researchers have made an astounding discovery in Siberia, unveiling the remains of a 50,000-year-old baby mammoth, dubbed "Yana," after the river basin where she was uncovered. This remarkable find, located in the remote Yakutia region, is hailed as the best-preserved mammoth carcass ever found.
Yana, weighing over 100 kg (approximately 15 stone 10 pounds) and measuring 120 cm (4 ft) tall and 200 cm long, is estimated to have been merely one year old at her time of death. Prior to this discovery, only six similar specimens were known globally, five of which were found in Russia, and one in Canada.The remains were located within the Batagaika crater, renowned as the largest permafrost crater worldwide. Local residents stumbled upon Yana while noticing her almost complete thawing. According to Maxim Cherpasov, head of the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Laboratory, they ingeniously created a makeshift stretcher to lift Yana to safety.Interestingly, it is common for the more vulnerable parts of a thawing mammoth to be consumed by modern predators or birds. Despite some damage, Yana's head remains remarkably intact. Researcher Gavril Novgorodov suggested that the mammoth likely became trapped in a swamp, leading to its exceptional preservation over millennia.Currently, Yana's remains are under examination at North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, as scientists conduct tests to establish the exact time of her death. This ancient discovery is part of a growing trend; with climate change causing permafrost to thaw, additional prehistoric specimens have been uncovered in recent years, including the remains of a mummified sabre-tooth cat from approximately 32,000 years ago and a 44,000-year-old wolf found earlier this year in the same region.
