Baby mammoth Lyuba, pristinely preserved, offers scientists rare look into mysteries of Ice Age
BY OLIVIA SMITH
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 21st 2009, 10:22 AM
She may be 40,000 years old, but an amazingly well-preserved baby mammoth is in great shape for her age, bringing scientists closer to solving some of the mysteries of the Ice Age.
Lyuba, who was discovered in 2007 in the Russian Artic, was about one-month old when she fell victim to a mudslide or drowned according to National Geographic, which will air a special about her, "Waking the Baby Mammoth," on Sunday April 26 at 9 p.m.
The clay-like substance that likely suffocated her also "pickled" her, preserving the little mammoth in a nearly pristine state, USAToday.com reported.
Her skin and organs are intact, and scientists were able to identify milk from her mother in her stomach.
"We are learning more about what [mammoths] ate and how to recognize animals that are healthy versus stressed," Daniel Fisher, a member of the research team, told National Geographic.
While previously discovered mammoth specimens, which are less well-preserved than Lyuba, appeared to be starving, Lyuba was the picture of health.
By examining Lyuba's teeth, researchers hope to gain insight into what caused Ice Age mammals, including the mammoths, to suddenly vanish around 10,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era.
"This quirky line of investigation is a tool by which we'll be able to solve the late Pleistocene extinction," Fisher told National Geographic. "We'll be able to distinguish between the two main competitors: climate change and hunting."
BY OLIVIA SMITH
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 21st 2009, 10:22 AM
She may be 40,000 years old, but an amazingly well-preserved baby mammoth is in great shape for her age, bringing scientists closer to solving some of the mysteries of the Ice Age.
Lyuba, who was discovered in 2007 in the Russian Artic, was about one-month old when she fell victim to a mudslide or drowned according to National Geographic, which will air a special about her, "Waking the Baby Mammoth," on Sunday April 26 at 9 p.m.
The clay-like substance that likely suffocated her also "pickled" her, preserving the little mammoth in a nearly pristine state, USAToday.com reported.
Her skin and organs are intact, and scientists were able to identify milk from her mother in her stomach.
"We are learning more about what [mammoths] ate and how to recognize animals that are healthy versus stressed," Daniel Fisher, a member of the research team, told National Geographic.
While previously discovered mammoth specimens, which are less well-preserved than Lyuba, appeared to be starving, Lyuba was the picture of health.
By examining Lyuba's teeth, researchers hope to gain insight into what caused Ice Age mammals, including the mammoths, to suddenly vanish around 10,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era.
"This quirky line of investigation is a tool by which we'll be able to solve the late Pleistocene extinction," Fisher told National Geographic. "We'll be able to distinguish between the two main competitors: climate change and hunting."
