Wednesday 21 May 2014

Baby mammoth goes on display in UK

20 May 2014 Last updated at 00:45

By Sarah WhiteBBC News, at the Natural History Museum

A perfectly preserved baby mammoth which died 42,000 years ago has been unveiled at the Natural History Museum in London.

Named Lyuba by the Siberian deer herder who discovered her in 2007, the specimen is 130cm tall and weighs 50kg.

Palaeontologist Prof Adrian Lister described seeing her for the first time as an "incredible experience".

Transported in a box that was opened on Monday, the juvenile female mammoth looked almost intact.

Prof Lister pointed out the small milk tusks that are barely visible, the almost flattened shape of the trunk designed to drink water from snow and a small layer of fat on top of the head which would have kept her warm in the permafrost of north-west Siberia.

Lyuba was found to have clay in her trunk, leading scientists to believe she suffocated on it while getting water. She is believed to have been discovered after her snowy grave thawed out during the spring and her remains washed up on a river bank.

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