The frozen and well-preserved carcass of an extinct woolly rhinoceros – with its last meal still inside – was recovered in Siberia, where it spent some 34,000 years in the permafrost desert, according to a report.
Scientists discovered the beast – which was 80 percent intact, with its teeth still in place – near where the world’s only furry baby rhino named Sasha was unearthed in 2014, reported East2West News.
“According to preliminary estimates, the rhino is three or four years old … he probably drowned in the river,” scientist Albert Protopopov told the channel.
“The carcass is very well preserved. Among other things, part of the internal organs is preserved, which will allow, in the future, to study in more detail how the species fed and lived ”, he added.
The gender of the Pleistocene animal, which was discovered in the Abyisky district of Yakutia along with a nearby horn, has not yet been revealed.
Sasha was previously dated to 34,000 years, but the new rhino may be between 20,000 and 50,000 years old, according to Valery Plotnikov, a researcher at the Sakha Republic Academy of Sciences.
“But we haven’t done the radiocarbon analysis yet,” he said.
Protopopov said that “the Rhino Abyisky can already be considered the only one of its kind in the world”.
He added: “Before, not even the bone remains of individuals of that age were found, not to mention preserved animal carcasses.”
The carcass is being preserved in a glacier until its transfer to Yakutsk, where it will be presented to the scientific community.
Pavel Yefimov, the local businessman responsible for the discovery, is introducing the animal to the Academy of Sciences.