- Title: RUSSIA-MAMMOTH 39,000-year-old baby mammoth on display in the Russian capital
- Date: 29th October 2014
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 28, 2014) (REUTERS) 39,000 YEAR OLD MAMMOTH, YUKA, ON DISPLAY HEAD OF MAMMOTH WOMAN AND GIRL LOOKING AT MAMMOTH THROUGH GLASS ?ASE VIEW OF MAMMOTH FROM THE BACK / FEET MEMBER OF RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, YURY BURLAKOV, LOOKING AT MAMMOTH MAMMOTH PAN FROM MAMMOTH HEAD TO ITS TAIL (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MEMBER OF RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, YURY BURLAKOV, SAYING: "Five corpses of baby-mammoths, small mammoths have been found. Why is it interesting? Mammoth is huge, three metres tall, weighs five tonnes, and we usually do not get to see it complete. 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." MAMMOTH SEEN THROUGH GLASS CASE PEOPLE LOOKING AT MAMMOTH, TAKING PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RESEARCH ASSOCIATE OF RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, STANISLAV KOLESOV, SAYING: "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. And besides it is a sensational discovery, as her brain has preserved very well." MAMMOTH'S TRUNK PEOPLE LOOKING AT MAMMOTH EXTERIOR OF BUILDING WHERE MAMMOTH IS ON DISPLAY
- Embargoed: 13th November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA4XEIZGU35VLTOIFNL89BHEG5R
- Story Text: A well preserved frozen woolly mammoth has gone on display in central Moscow. The 39,000-year-old female baby woolly mammoth, named Yuka by scientists, was discovered in the Yakutia region on Russia's Arctic coast in 2010 by local tusk hunters. Scientists say Yuka is a rare find because of how exceptionally well her body has preserved.
"Five corpses of baby-mammoths, small mammoths have been found. Why is it interesting? Mammoth is huge, three metres tall, weighs five tonnes, and we usually do not get to see it complete. 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," said member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yury Burlakov.
The body of three-metre long female mammoth also bears scars, indicating she had been attacked by predators before she died. She was found in permafrost and is kept in a special glass cage in freezing temperatures. Yuka is believed to have been around 10-years-old when she died.
"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. And besides it is a sensational discovery, as her brain has preserved very well," said Stanislav Kolesov, research associate of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Yuka's visit to Moscow is a part of her world tour. She has already visited Japan and Taiwan.
Scientists are looking for well preserved woolly mammoth remains in hope they might contain the necessary material to clone the long extinct beast.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
