Mammoth find may help map species

“This specimen may provide unique material allowing us to ultimately decipher the genetic makeup of the mammoth.”

The baby, a six months old female, was named “Lyuba” after the wife of the reindeer breeder and hunter who found her in Russia’s Arctic Yamalo-Nenetsk region.

She had been lying in the frozen ground for up to 40,000 years, said Tikhonov.

Scientific treasure trove

The hunter initially thought the mammoth was a dead reindeer when he spotted parts of her body sticking out of damp snow.

When he realised it was a mammoth, scientists were called in and transported the body to the regional capital, Salekhard, where she is now being kept in a special refrigerator.

Weighing 50kg and measuring 85cm high and 130cm from trunk to tail, Lyuba is roughly the same size as a large dog.

Tikhonov said the fact the mammoth was so remarkably well-preserved -its shaggy coat was gone but otherwise it looked as though it had only recently died – meant it was a potential treasure trove for scientists.

“Such a unique skin condition protects all the internal organs from modern microbes and micro-organisms … In terms of its future genetic, molecular and microbiological studies, this is just an unprecedented specimen.”

Odyssey

Tikhonov said the next stop on Lyuba’s odyssey would be the Zoological Museum in Russia’s second city of St Petersburg.

There, Lyuba will join a male baby mammoth called Dima who was unearthed in Magadan in Russia’s far east in 1977 and until now was Russia’s best-known example of the species.

“They will make a nice couple, both roughly aged 40,000 years,” Tikhonov said.

From St Petersburg, Lyuba will go to Jikei University in Japan to undergo three-dimensional computer mapping of her body.

The mammoth will then return to St Petersburg for an autopsy before being put on display in Salekhard.