Mammoth find: Preserved Ice Age giant found with flowing blood in Siberia

[Crisp]

Mammoth find: Preserved Ice Age giant found with flowing blood in Siberia

Russian scientists discovered a fully-grown female mammoth with blood and well-preserved muscle tissue trapped in ice in Siberia. The findings come amid debates on whether the extinct species should be resurrected using DNA.

Scientists say they have managed to find mammoth blood during the excavation of a grown female animal on the Lyakhovsky Islands, the southernmost group of the New Siberian Islands in the Arctic seas of northeastern Russia.

The dark blood was found in ice cavities below the belly of the animal. When researchers broke the cavities with a poll pick, the blood came flowing out. The fact surprised them because the temperature was 10C below zero.

"It can be assumed that the blood of mammoths had some cryo-protective properties,? said Semyon Grigoriev, head of the Museum of Mammoths of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North at the North Eastern Federal University as cited by Interfax news agency.

The blood was placed in a test tube and a bacteriological analysis of the sample is expected soon.

The muscle tissue of the animal was also well-preserved and had a natural red color of fresh meat, added the scientist. Such preservation can be explained by the fact that the lower part of the mammoth?s body was trapped in pure ice, while the upper part was discovered in the middle of the tundra. The trunk was found separately from the carcass.

The researchers established that the female mammoth was between 50 and 60 years old when it died. Grigoriev noted that this was a unique find likely to prompt international intrigue.

The carcass of the baby mammoth, named Lyuba, found in 2007 / RIA Novosti

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[Growled Member]

I hope cloning one is in the game plan for the near future.

[Osiris]

Finally there will be a day when kids go to the zoo, ask where the furry elephant from ice age is and parents will actually be able to show them one!

[_neutrino Veteran]

I was just reading about this. I was more amazed that it had not dried up rather than that it was not properly freezing however, it will be cool to see in the next decade or so if they will be able to do anything viable with that blood. Then again there is such a small amount of it.

[Crisp]

Cloning them could be a good idea, we could have another food source then. Would make it easier on the Cow.

[WildWayz]

Cloning them could be a good idea, we could have another food source then. Would make it easier on the Cow.

We don't eat elephants... and a mammoth is basically an elephant with hair ;)

Besides, chicken is the best meat ever :p

[Crisp]

We don't eat elephants... and a mammoth is basically an elephant with hair ;)

What did cave men eat then? Saber-tooth's?

Heck someone would be bound to serve it, Korea's eat dog.

[WildWayz]

Guess it is hard to know. Some sites say it was fruits/cereals (vegetarian diet) others says small animals... all I know is that I wasn't around then and neither was my mum ;)

However... they DID eat giant sloths.... so anything is possible..

[Original Poster]

I hope cloning one is in the game plan for the near future.

wouldnt be fair to clone just one :/ and to stick it with elephants wouldn't be right ... they are built for different climates, I would love to see one. but would it be fair?

[techbeck]

I hope cloning one is in the game plan for the near future.

Not sure about this. If extinction wasnt the caused by man...then there is a reason why they are extinct.

[FloatingFatMan]

We shouldn't bring back animals that have proven unable to survive as they were.

[Gladiatorus]

Besides, chicken is the best meat ever :p

Errr, nope, it isn't.

[Growled Member]

Besides, chicken is the best meat ever :p

So far. Who knows, mammoth might be better. :D

[BillyJack]

Come on people, have we not learned from Jurassic Park.

[Crisp]

Come on people, have we not learned from Jurassic Park.

Yeah, don't run to the toilet when being chased by a Tyrannosaurus.

[moloko]

This looks amaze balls.

[M_Lyons10]

Wow. That's really amazing.

[Arachno 1D]

So ........start looking in the news for millionaires seeking remote islands :D

BTW

In Western societies, elephants have often been associated with circuses and used for entertaining purposes. However, in Central and West Africa, elephants are hunted for their meat.^[41] Some people in Thailand also believe that eating elephant meat improves their sex lives and elephants are sometimes hunted specifically for this.^[4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo_food_and_drink#Elephants

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

did i miss something? the article says they found a fully-formed mammoth, but the picture is a baby mammoth. on top of that it's from 2007 - not exactly news is it?

[Arachno 1D]

I guess the original press release had no images so its a bit of license on the part of the press peeps

[firey]

did i miss something? the article says they found a fully-formed mammoth, but the picture is a baby mammoth. on top of that it's from 2007 - not exactly news is it?

Yes, you missed 90% of the article.