The baby woolly mammoth was discovered by miners at Eureka Creek near Dawson City.
The stunningly preserved corpse of a baby woolly mammoth, frozen in the Yukon’s permafrost, is hailed as the most complete specimen of extinct species ever found in North America.
The baby mammoth was spotted by gold miners who found it Tuesday while working at Eureka Creek near Dawson City. A preliminary examination by experts showed that the mammoth was a female, about 140 centimeters long. The creature is thought to have been about a month old when it died about 30,000 years ago.
“It is full from the tail to the tip of its trunk, with eyelids and ears and toenails,” said Grant Zazula, a paleontologist with the local government, who called the discovery a “once in a lifetime” find.
After detection and removal from rock, the specimen was transported to a freezer for storage. It came under the leadership of the first nation, Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin, in whose traditional territory it was discovered.
Nun cho ga, which translates as “big baby animal” in the Han language, is thought to have been about a month old when it died about 30,000 years ago.
At a ceremony earlier this week, the mammoth was named Nun cho ga by Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin Elders, which translates as “big baby animal” in Khan.
“This find is incredible,” said Debbie Nagano, director of the First Nation’s heritage. “The powerful effect it has sometimes leaves you speechless.
While mummified mammoths have previously been found in Siberia, there is no equal in North America. Future research has the potential to reveal new information about the North American population of the species, which is thought to have existed on the continent until about 5,000 years ago.
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