3 years ago
The remarkably preserved carcass of an Ice Age-era woolly rhino has been unearthed by locals in eastern Siberia, as per researchers. The rhino was revealed by the melting permafrost in the Abyisky region of Yakutia in north-eastern Russia.
Recent years have seen major discoveries of the remains of mammoths, woolly rhinos, foals, several puppies and cave-lion cubs in parts of Siberia.
Discoveries of these kind are becoming more frequent as global warming is melting the permafrost across vast areas of Russia's extreme north and eastern regions. With most of its internal organs intact, the rhino is among the best-preserved animals ever found in the region.
Experts will deliver the rhino to a lab for further studies next month. They are waiting for ice roads to form so they can take the remains to the city of Yakutsk, where scientists will take samples and carry out radiocarbon analyses. The rhino is believed to have lived in the late Pleistocene era, anywhere between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Valery Plotnikov, a researcher who examined the remains, told Russian media the rhino was between three and four years old when it died, probably from drowning. She said much of the rhino's soft tissue was still visible, including part of the intestines and genitals.
There were traces of wear on the horn, indicating that the rhino "was actively using it for food", she said. The rhino was first discovered in August by a local resident on the bank of the Tirekhtyakh river.
