Remains of ice age woolly rhinoceros found in melting Siberian permafrost
A well-preserved ice age woolly rhino with many of its internal organs still intact has been recovered from permafrost in Russia’s extreme north.
Russian media reported Wednesday that the carcass was revealed by melting permafrost in Yakutia in Russia’s far northeast in August. Scientists are waiting for ice roads in the Arctic region to become passable to deliver it to a lab for studies next month.
It’s among the best-preserved specimens of the ice age animal found to date. The carcass has most of its soft tissues still intact, including part of the intestines, thick hair and a lump of fat. Its horn was found next to it.
Recent years have seen major discoveries of mammoths, woolly rhinos, an ice age foal and cave lion cubs as the permafrost increasingly melts across vast areas of Siberia due to global warming.
Yakutia 24 TV quoted Valery Plotnikov, a paleontologist with the regional branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as saying the woolly rhino was likely three or four years old when it died.
Plotnikov said the young rhino likely drowned.
Scientists dated the carcass as anywhere between 20,000 to 50,000 years old. More precise dating will be possible once it is delivered to a lab for radiocarbon studies.
The carcass was found on the bank of the Tirekhtyakh river in the Abyisk district, close to the area where another young woolly rhino was recovered in 2014.
Researchers dated that specimen, which they called Sasha, at 34,000 years old.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: ‘Kind of incredible’: Researchers uncover details about ice age wolf pup found in Yukon, CBC News
Finland: Miners hunting for metals to battery cars threaten Finland’s Sámi reindeer herders’ homeland, The Independent Barents Observer
Greenland: Oldest Arctic sea ice vanishes twice as fast as rest of region, study shows, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: In Arctic Norway, seabirds build nests out of plastic waste, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Mass vaccination is underway on Russia’s Yamal tundra, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Warnings in Sweden about dangerous bacteria in Baltic Sea, Radio Sweden
United States: An Alaska volcano and DNA reveal the timing of bison’s arrival in North America, Alaska Dispatch News
