39,000 years old World's best-preserved woolly MAMMOTH goes on display in Russia

The best-preserved woolly mammoth ever found has gone on display in central Moscow some 39,000 years after it last roamed the Earth.

The ancient baby woolly mammoth, named Yuka by scientists, was found by local tusk hunters in the Yakutia region of Russia's Arctic coast in 2010.

Remarkably clumps of the animal�s distinguishing hair are still intact after the baby mammoth was trapped in glacial ice until she was found.

Experts have said the discovery of Yuka is a significant find because her body is unusually well-preserved in comparison to previous discoveries of mammoth corpses.
Yury Burlakov, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Reuters there were numerous reasons why the five corpses of mammoths previously found had not been as significant.

'Five corpses of baby-mammoths, small mammoths have been found. Why is it interesting? [The] Mammoth is huge, three metres tall, weighs five tonnes, and we usually do not get to see it complete,' Mr Burlakov said.

'Either predators have gnawed on it after its death or something else. This baby-mammoth is comparatively small, so certain fragile details are preserved, like the trunk or the tail.'

The scientists have identified scars on the body of the three-metre long female which they say confirm that she was the victim of predators before her death.

Yuka was discovered in permanently frozen soil and ice and since then the body of the woolly mammoth has been kept in a special glass cage at freezing temperatures.

Experts believe the now extinct mammoth was approximately 10 years-old when she died.

Stanislav Kolesov, research associate of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the extraordinary discovery was significant breakthrough for science.

'She has great value for science, because she is the only baby-mammoth of its age category. She is a teenager, nine or ten-years-old. Mammoths of this age had not yet been found. There were adults or very young babies, under one year of age,' Mr Kolesov said. 'And besides it is a sensational discovery, as her brain has preserved very well.'

The baby woolly mammoth is visiting Moscow as part of a world tour. The prehistoric creature has already been on display in Japan and Taiwan.

It is believed the last woolly mammoth walked the earth around 4,000 years ago.

Source : DailyMail , Reuters

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