Mammoth Discovered.

**Lunar4** · November 12, 2007, 10:37 PM

http://www.russia-ic.com/news/show/4335/

Scientists claim a baby mammoth, unearthed in the permafrost of north-west Siberia this May, could be the best preserved specimen of its type.

The six-month-old female calf, which is 130cm tall and weighs 50kg, was discovered on the Yamal peninsula of Russia and is thought to have died 10,000 years ago.

An international delegation of experts convened in the town of Salekhard to carry out a preliminary examination of found animal.

"The mammoth has no defects except that its tail was bit off," said Alexei Tikhonov, deputy director of the Institute of Zoology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "In terms of its state of preservation, this is the world's most valuable discovery," he said.

Some scientists hold out hope that well preserved sperm or other cells containing viable DNA could be used to resurrect the mammoth lineage.

**NaptownKnight** · November 12, 2007, 11:00 PM

:hmmm: To believe, or not to believe, that is the question.

**Richard** · November 13, 2007, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by NaptownKnight

:hmmm: To believe, or not to believe, that is the question.

Well it was posted by Lunar4 so the answer is pretty straightforward.

Seriously though, it looks like an Indian elephant someone left in their freezer and forgot about.

Hey, it happens.

**Erwin Rommel** · November 12, 2007, 11:01 PM

resurrect the mammoth lineage.
YES please DO well, get a mahout(a rtw carthage addict) there for you and cover the beast in body armor hhahaha

**Medicus** · November 13, 2007, 12:38 AM

Harvest its DNA, and let's hear the pitter patter of baby mammoth feet!

**Archaon** · November 13, 2007, 01:05 AM

Mammoths in a zoo! i'll pay to see that

**Kiljan Arslan** · November 13, 2007, 01:06 AM

Even better once nuclear war starts Nuclear winter I will have my Mammoth armies counquer all of North America!

**Dunecat** · November 13, 2007, 01:42 AM

Doesn't DNA degrade/disappear rather rapidly though? Could we even have its DNA after more than a few thousand years?...

**Medicus** · November 13, 2007, 03:57 AM

Originally Posted by Ronnec

Doesn't DNA degrade/disappear rather rapidly though? Could we even have its DNA after more than a few thousand years?...

That's the problem.

I can remember a few years ago that scientists thought they could clone a Tasmanian Tiger from the DNA of a preserved fetus, but I don't know what came of that.

**Anarius** · November 13, 2007, 10:20 AM

The tiger fetus were soaked in alcohol.
Not as good as I had hoped - a hidden safe haven for the last surviving mammoths somewhere in Siberia - but still cool.

**-Conan the Barbarian-** · November 13, 2007, 11:52 AM

Who cares about the mammoth what about this: Scientists recover T. rex soft tissue

**Kiljan Arslan** · November 13, 2007, 01:58 AM

No! Dn't spoil my dreams of counquering the world with Mammoths!

**zznɟ ǝɥʇ** · November 13, 2007, 12:29 PM

Nice! Of course, in order to clone a mammoth, wouldn't they need to full in the DNA gaps with modern elephant DNA? Still, it would be really cool. Then we could use that to get some Quagga going and of course the Tasmanian Tiger.

**Kiljan Arslan** · November 13, 2007, 04:30 PM

It be grerat if they could clone the Dodo and turn it into a farm animal!

**Spurius** · November 13, 2007, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by Kiljan Arslan

It be grerat if they could clone the Dodo and turn it into a farm animal!

Apparently they were eaten to extinction DESPITE the fact they made a very poor meal. Dutch word for them was 'walgvogel', roughly translates as 'disgusting bird'. Hungry sailors will eat anything, though.