| The remains of a baby mammoth has been found in the Yamal Peninsula in Siberian Russia. The baby mammoth, named Lyuba, a female, was six-month-old at the time of death.
Preserved Baby Mammoth Found in Siberia
The well-preserved remains of a baby mammoth has been found in the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia (Russia). The baby mammoth, named Lyuba, was a six-month-old female at the time of death, approximately 10,000 years ago.
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Mammuthus primigenius (Baby) named "Dima," similar to Lyuba.
Credit: Sikander (public domain) Mammoths arose about five million years ago, in the Pliocene Epoch, and are closely related to modern elephants. Unlike elephants mammoths had a thick layer of fur. They died out about 4,000 years ago, although the population was in substantial decline well before then with more than half the population gone by 11,000 years ago. Scientists don't know what caused their extinction. However, major hypotheses include factors such as climate change, hunting by humans, disease and combinations of these factors.
The specimen is well preserved with some remaining fur and substantially intact eyes and trunk. The only part missing is the tail, which appears to have been bitten off. There is some hope that the mammoth may be sufficiently well preserved that DNA can be extracted for cloning or for other research.
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