Best preserved mammoth in history found inside 'gateway to the underworld'
The 50,000-old remains were reportedly found in a kilometre-deep crater in Russia, lovingly referred to as 'gateway to the underworld' where countless other discoveries have been made
A mammoth described as the ‘best preserved in history’ was shown to the public after being discovered in the “gateway to the underworld”.
The 50,000-year-old remains of the creature were uncovered when scientists melted permafrost in the Batagaika crater in the far-eastern Russian area of Yakutia. Dubbed the “gateway to the underworld,” the huge trench is a kilometre deep and is known as a mass grave for other ancient animal remains such as dogs, bison and horses.
Named ‘Yana’ by researchers, the female mammoth weighs over 100kg and stands around 120cm tall. Experts believe the animal was one year old when she died, with Yana’s remains one of seven mammoth carcasses recovered worldwide.
Yana is set to be studied by experts at Russia ’s North-Eastern University, which has described the find as “exceptional”.
In other news boffins are reportedly 'getting very close' to bringing some extinct species, like woolly mammoths and dodos, back from oblivion.
Live Science reported "de-extinction" science has advanced dramatically in the past two decades, and that could mean the likes of the aforementioned beasts, and even the Tasmanian tiger making a return.
Colossal Biosciences, a Texas -based biotechnology and genetic engineering company, recently pledged to bringing back the trio to "enrich biodiversity, replenish vital ecological roles and bolster ecosystem resilience."
But not everyone was so sure. "We have this hubris as humans that we can control our technology," Oswald Schmitz, a professor of population and community ecology at Yale University, told Live Science. "I'm not so convinced."
But Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences, told Live Science that the return of lost animals is "closer than people think".
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.