Young woolly rhino found almost perfectly preserved in the Siberia permafrost
- Scientists hope to take the carcass to a laboratory for radiocarbon dating next month to get a better sense of when the animal died
- With most of the animal’s hooves, teeth and internal organs discovered, it is one of the most intact ancient rhinos ever found
Alexei Savvin, a local resident, stumbled upon an unprecedented find walking near the Tirekhtyakh River in Yakutia, Siberia last August: an almost perfectly preserved woolly rhino carcass.
Most of the rhino's hooves, teeth and internal organs were still intact. The animal still had some of its thick, fur coat, and researchers even found its horn, which had broken off but lay nearby.
After analysing the carcass, Siberian scientists announced on Tuesday that the rhino likely lived between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.
It is one of the most intact ancient rhinos ever found.
“The young rhino was between three and four years old and lived separately from its mother when it died, most likely by drowning,” Valery Plotnikov, a palaeontologist from the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the Siberian Times.
“The rhino has a very thick short underfur; very likely it died in summer,” Plotnikov added.