The BBC is reporting on the discovery of a mammoth carcass found preserved in Siberian ice for at least 10,000 years. The carcass is that of a juvenile mammoth, about 2.5 years old, that researchers have dubbed “Yuka”. Its flesh, and even hair, have endured astonishingly well over millennia buried in ice. Video of the mammoth being uncovered can be seen on the BBC website.
Researchers on the joint BBC/Discovery expedition are saying that this adorable ginger beast would have almost certainly interacted with humans. In that we probably ate him after a hot pursuit from a lion. As Discovery News quotes David Fisher, curator and director of the University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology, as saying:
Yuka then apparently fell, breaking one of the lower hind legs. At this point, humans may have moved in to control the carcass, butchering much of the animal and removing parts that they would use immediately.
If the findings are confirmed, it will be the first mammoth remains to show human interaction. Details of the expedition will appear on Wolly Mammoth: Secrets of the Ice, airing tonight in the UK, and at a later date in the US. [BBC, Discovery News]
