Biology:Sopkarga mammoth
| Location | Bluff that formed right bank of the Yenisei River |
|---|---|
| Region | Taymyr Peninsula |
| Type | Mummified remains |
| History | |
| Periods | 48,000 cal ka BP[1] |
| Site notes | |
| Discovered | 28 August 2012[2] |
| Archaeologists | Yevgeny Salinder |
The Sopkarga mammoth, alternately spelled Sopkarginsky mammoth, and informally called Zhenya, after the nickname of its discoverer, is a woolly mammoth carcass found in October 2012. It was discovered 3 kilometres (2 mi)[3] away from the Sopkarga polar weather station[4] on the Taymyr Peninsula in Russia. The Moscow News refers to it as the best preserved mammoth find in the past 100 years.[3]
The remains are those of a male, aged 15 to 16 years,[4] who died c. 48,000 years ago.[1] 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.[3]
This find is the best-preserved of its kind since another mammoth was unearthed in 1901 near the Beryozovka River in Yakutia.[3] This makes Zhenya the second-best preserved mammoth ever found.[4]
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.[3]
Zhenya's hump appears to be composed of fat, similar to a camel's hump.[3]
The remains were found by 11-year-old Yevgeny Salinder who lives near the station. His nickname is "Zhenya".[3][4]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maschenko, Evgeny N.; Potapova, Olga R.; Vershinina, Alisa; Shapiro, Beth; Streletskaya, Irina D.; Vasiliev, Alexander A.; Oblogov, Gleb E.; Kharlamova, Anastasia S. et al. (2017). "The Zhenya Mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius (Blum.)): Taphonomy, geology, age, morphology and ancient DNA of a 48,000 year old frozen mummy from western Taimyr, Russia". Quaternary International 445: 104–134. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.06.055. https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/51a6a114-b1b5-436d-810b-a832575c1c91.
- ↑ Maschenko, E. N.; Tikhonov, A. N.; Serdyuk, N. V.; Tarasenko, K. K.; Lopatin, A. V. (2015). "A finding of the male mammoth carcass in the Karginsky suit of the Upper Pleistocene of the Taimyr Peninsula". Doklady Biological Sciences 460: 32–35. doi:10.1134/S0012496615010068. PMID 25773247.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 8/10/2012+7 °C. "Child discovers a mammoth in Taymyr | RUSSIA". The Moscow News. http://themoscownews.com/russia/20121004/190314709.html.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Grenoble, Ryan (4 October 2012). "'Zhenya' Mammoth Find in North Russia, Biggest in 100 Years, Made By 11-Year-Old Evgeny Salinder". HuffPost. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/zhenya-mammoth-find-russia_n_1940791.html. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
[ ⚑ ] 71°52′20″N 82°42′42″E / 71.8722°N 82.7117°E
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