- cross-posted to:
- archaeology@mander.xyz
- cross-posted to:
- archaeology@mander.xyz
Summary
Russian scientists have unveiled the exceptionally well-preserved remains of a 50,000-year-old baby mammoth, named Yana, discovered in Yakutia’s permafrost this summer.
Weighing 180kg and measuring 120cm tall, it is considered the world’s best-preserved mammoth carcass and one of only seven complete remains ever found.
Displayed at North-Eastern Federal University, researchers noted its remarkable condition and plan to study its exact age, estimated at just over one year.
Yakutia’s permafrost, known for preserving prehistoric animals, has also yielded remains of a horse, bison, and lemming.
I remember the horse.
All this permafrost thawing isn’t a good thing, except for Russia, they get more usable land. But for everyone else it’s a bigger warning sign than glacial melt.
I doubt that Russia will get much usable land, at least for quite a while. The melted permafrost leaves behind muddy landscapes that results in the destruction of the floral and the animals that eat those plants, and also results in more droughts
Humans can make the least arable land farmable when they need to. Hopefully the people of Russia never need to but they will, we all will.