A well-preserved woolly mammoth that was discovered in Siberia is currently put on display in Japan, according to media reports. The female woolly mammoth was trapped in glacial ice for the last 39,000 years.
The mammoth is named Yuka and was discovered about three years back in Russia's Sakha Republic. Experts say that the mammoth was about 10 years old when it was covered in glacial ice. Yuka will be on public display in Yokohama, Japan from July 13 through September 16.
What makes the carcass special is that it is extraordinarily well-preserved with presence of liquid blood in it along with pink flesh and fur. The blood, according to scientists, could be used to clone the animal.
"When we broke the ice beneath her stomach, the blood flowed out from there, it was very dark. This is the most astonishing case in my entire life. How was it possible for it to remain in liquid form? And the muscle tissue is also red, the colour of fresh meat," Semyon Grigoryev, the head of the expedition that found Yuki told AFP in May.
Yuka's lower part is well-preserved as it ended up in a swamp before it froze, but its head along with back show signs of gnawing, Grigoryev added.
Mammoths are an extinct group of elephants that belong to the genus Mammuthus. Their ancestors had migrated from Africa about 3.5 million years back. The most famous of these ancient elephants is the woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius, which is a close cousin of the modern elephant. The woolly mammoth appeared in the northeastern Siberia around 400,000 years back and was well-adapted to cold with dense fur, short ears and a dense undercoat, according to National Geographic.
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