Researchers have already removed part of the mammoth's skin and hope to find remnants of its preserved brain in its skull.
Artem Cheremisov/Press Service of the Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia via APSScientists still have to analyze the fossils, but they estimate that they are at least 10,000 years old.
Locals quickly alerted scientists, who are now working with them to find the remaining remains, likely submerged beneath the lake's waters. However, such work could take a long time.
Nevertheless, the researchers are optimistic. As Dmitry Frolov, director of the Arctic Research Center, noted in an interview with The Siberian Times: “The entire skeleton is in place.”
He added that judging by the size of the fossils, the mammoth was probably young, but only further research would confirm its exact age.
Woolly mammoths lived on Earth during the Pleistocene epoch, which lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago. Scientists say mammoth populations were distributed throughout the world, but most of their fossils have been discovered in recent years in Siberia and Mexico.
The rough-sided mammoths in Russia are thought to have gone extinct around 15,000 years ago, while another group on St. Paul Island is thought to have disappeared just 4,300 years ago.
The bones are thought to belong to a subadult rough-sided mammoth with soft tissue preserved, found in the Yamal Peninsula. /p/div pAccording to Evgenia Khozyainova, a researcher at the Shemanov Institute in Salekhard, finding a complete mammoth skeleton is a rare event. However, several other well-preserved mammoth carcasses have recently been discovered in the permafrost of northern Siberia, as the summer heat that has engulfed the area thaws the thick ice. Archaeologists are confident that this phenomenon will continue to uncover new prehistoric specimens.
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