Yukagir Mammoth
| Basic facts about the Yukagir Mammoth: |
|
| Name: |
Yukagir Mammoth (named for the location where it was discovered) |
| Age: |
About 18,000 years (based on radiocarbon dating) |
| Age at death: |
About 40 to 45 years (The size and curvature of the tusks indicate that it was fully grown at the time of death.) |
| Sex: |
Male (based on head size and curvature of the tusks.) |
| Shoulder height: |
2.8 meters (based on the total length of all the recovered parts of the left front leg and a method used by researchers of Asian elephants for calculating shoulder height from the circumference of the foreleg.) |
| Weight: |
4-5 tons (Male Asian elephants with the same shoulder height weigh nearly 5 tons. However, the current method for calculating the weight of mammoths from the length of the humerus indicates that it would be 4-5 tons.) |
Overview of the recovered remains of the Yukagir Mammoth (all from the front half of the animal):
Head (with two tusks), all cervical vertebrae, most of the thoracic vertebrae, left foreleg (with some tissue and bone remaining below the knee and bone above it), part of the right foreleg, some ribs (especially those covering the right side of the chest), some skin (discovered in a mummified state), portions of the intestinal walls (future research will be undertaken to pinpoint what part) and some of its contents, and hair.
DEDICATED TO THE YUKAGIR MAMMOTH
Yukagir Mammoth Symposium
(November 17-18, 2004)
The Yukagir Mammoth Symposium was held at the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). A large number of researchers from around the world took part, as well as Deputy Chairman of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Evgeniya I. Mikhailova, and Secretary-General of the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition Toshio Nakamura. Basic data on the Yukagir Mammoth was unveiled during the proceedings. The second Yukagir Mammoth Symposium was scheduled to take place in Japan during EXPO 2005.
NEW LIFE OF THE YUKAGIR MAMMOTH
Exhibition at EXPO 2005 Aichi
(March – September, 2005)
The recovered parts of the Yukagir Mammoth, including the head, left foreleg, and other parts of the skeleton and carcass, were displayed in a refrigerated exhibition room next to the Global House. The temperature was kept at minus 15 degrees Celsius, and visitors could view the room through windows. Other mammoth-related exhibits were on view in the Global House, including a model of the Yukagir Mammoth, general findings on mammoths and the global environment of their era, an account of the Yukagir Mammoth surveys and excavations, and a visual presentation using computer graphics and other techniques to show the latest research findings. An exhibit of a complete mammoth skeleton and other mammoth-related exhibits were also on view in the Russian Pavilion in Global Common 4, providing visitors with a multifaceted look at this animal.
The major message to EXPO visitors:
The recent discovery of frozen mammoth remains in Siberia is not unrelated to global warming. The rise in the Earth's temperature is causing the Siberian permafrost to melt, and specimens of mammoths that were once locked into the frozen earth are surfacing as a result. If the frozen earth continues to melt, we will likely lose many of the valuable resources that have been left for tens of thousands of years.
Yukagir Mammoth Museum in Japan
(December, 2004 – May, 2005)
After EXPO 2005, the Yukagir Mammoth was returned to the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). However, it stayed at home for short time. In one month, the head of the mammoth did trip back to Japan in order to be again the major display at another exhibition. This time the project is dedicated solely to the ancient northern resident and is called Yukagir Mammoth Museum that will travel across the island country till the end of May, 2006.
Project coordinators are Fuji TV Network, Yakutsk Institute of Applied Ecology of the North, SakhaEXPOmammoth Ltd, etc.
READ ALSO:
 Outline of the excavation site and survey (June, 2004)
Survey of the Yukagir Mammoth Discovery Site (September, 2004)
Successful CT measurement and 3D image reconstruction of the Yukagir Mammoth in Japan
The sequence of the complete mitochondrial DNA of the Yukagir Mammoth has been determined!
*Information derived from the EXPO 2005 website. |
| 
