The North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk received a unique fossil: the horn of a woolly rhinoceros along with a mummified carcass. The remains were found at a mining site in the Oymyakon district of Yakutia.

This is a truly unique discovery that will allow a deeper study of the region's history, its ancient fauna, climate and geological conditions.

The rhinoceros horn has already been handed over to scientists. Other parts of the carcass are preserved. Currently, their extraction is scheduled for autumn. 

The donation of the horn to the NEFU is a significant event. Until today, there has never been such a rare item in the collection of the Mammoth Museum. In the recent history of NEFU, this is the first such discovery—the carcass still has soft tissues. According to morphological parameters, it belonged to a sexually mature individual.

Later, scientists will determine the exact biological age and sex of the animal, as well as its nutritional characteristics.

Previously, only five remains of woolly rhinoceroses with soft tissues were found in Yakutia: Vilyuysky (1771), Verkhoyansky (1877), Kolymsky (2007), Sasha Rhinoceros (2014), and Abysky (2020). Recently, The Arctic Century wrote about the autopsy of a wolf that lay in the Arctic permafrost for 44,000 years.

A significant part of all the unique fossils of the world—mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, bison, musk oxen, cave lions and other animals of a bygone era—have been discovered in Yakutia.

Also read the publication:
The Development of Indigenous Cultures of the Region Was Discussed at the Forum in Karelia