Sopkarga mammoth

Sopkarga mammoth
Mummified remains
Country Russia
Location Found on a hillside
Period 30,000 years ago
Discovered by Yevgeny Salinder
 - date 2012
External image
Images from Dailymail.co.uk

The Sopkarga mammoth, alternately spelled Sopkarginsky mammoth, and informally called Zhenya, after the nickname of its discoverer, is a wooly mammoth carcass[1] found in October 2012. It was discovered 3 kilometres (2 mi)[2] away from the Sopkarga polar weather station[3] on the Taymyr Peninsula in Russia. The Moscow News refers to it as the best preserved mammoth find in the past 100 years.[2]

The remains are those of a male, aged 15 to 16 years, who died 30,000 years ago.[3] They weigh over 500 kilograms (1,100 lb), comprising the right half of the body including soft tissue, skin and hair, the skull with one ear, a tusk, bones and reproductive organs.[2]

This find is the best-preserved of its kind since another mammoth was unearthed in 1901 near the Beryozovka River in Yakutia.[2] This makes Zhenya the second-best preserved mammoth ever found.[3]

Over the course of a week, the frozen carcass was extracted using steam, axes, and picks. It was then transported by helicopter to Dudinka, the capital of Taymyr, and placed in an ice chamber.[2]

Zhenya's hump appears to be composed of fat, similar to a camel's hump.[2]

The remains were found by 11-year-old Yevgeny Salinder who lives near the station. His nickname is "Zhenya".[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bond, Anthony (4 October 2012). "Almost intact carcass of 30,000-year-old woolly mammoth found by 11-year-old boy | Mail Online". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8/10/2012+7 °C. "Child discovers a mammoth in Taymyr | RUSSIA". The Moscow News. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Grenoble, Ryan (4 October 2012). "'Zhenya' Mammoth Find In North Russia, Biggest In 100 Years, Made By 11-Year-Old Evgeny Salinder". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2012-10-07.

Coordinates: 71°52′20″N 82°42′42″E / 71.8722°N 82.7117°E / 71.8722; 82.7117

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