Russian researchers found a female mammoth with flowing blood trapped in ice in Siberia.
Scientists said the animal’s tissues are in nearly perfect condition, according to Russian state-run media
“The meat looks pretty fresh, reddish in color in several places. I can’t say that the smell was very fresh, though,” said Semyon Grigoryev, head of the expedition and director of the Amosov Mammoth Museum of the North Eastern Federal District, according to RIA Novosti.
Scientists who dug up the mammoth said that blood was squirting out when they examined the remains, which were found on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean.
“It can be assumed that the blood of mammoths had some cryo-protective properties,” Grigoriev told Russia Today.
The mammoth blood was then placed in a test tube and scientists will analyze the samples soon, it was reported.
“This is the most astonishing case in my entire life. How was it possible for it to remain in liquid form? And the muscle tissue is also red, the colour of fresh meat,” he added, according to state-run media.
Researchers said the mammoth was between 50 and 60 years old when it died.
“We are the first in the world to find the carcass of an adult female mammoth. Now she, along with the bones and some ice, weighs about one ton. We assume that during life she weighed about three tons,” Grigoriev added.
He said the mammoth likely lived between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago.
