Siberia Mammoth Is Best-Preserved Ever Found
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A baby mammoth found in Siberia, Russia, is the best-preserved specimen of the animal that became extinct during the last Ice Age, and scientists may try to resurrect the species using its DNA, the British Broadcasting Corp. said.
The six-month-old female calf was found in permafrost on the Yamal peninsula and is estimated by scientists to be 10,000 years old, the BBC reported, citing researchers who viewed the animal, which still has its eyes. It was discovered by a reindeer herder in May, the BBC said.
The frozen carcass is being sent to Japan for further study and scientists are trying to get enough DNA from the animal to allow them to clone a mammoth, it said.
Researchers in 2005 said they sequenced the chemical structure of about 1% of the genetic material of the woolly mammoth, a cousin of today’s elephants. Scientists extracted DNA from animal remains found in permafrost.
