Ancient Blood

In what could be termed as a rare discovery, scientists have found an extra-ordinarily preserved carcass of an approximately 10,000 year old female woolly mammoth in ice that contains liquid blood. Scientists involved in the expedition say that they have found both blood and muscle tissue which have been preserved perfectly. The discovery was made in temperatures of minus 10 degree Celsius on the New Siberian Islands off the coast of the Republic of Sakha.

Semyon Grigoriev, head of the expedition feels that this discovery has once again raised hopes among researchers in their long running quest to get the woolly mammoth to walk the earth again. The blood and soft tissues in the carcass are well preserved to enable scientists to successfully clone the giant animal. He calls this as the best preserved mammoth in the history of palentology. Grigoriev said that the mammoth’s blood contains a kind of natural anti freeze which is why the carcass was able to preserve muscle tissue, meat and blood in liquid form. The soft tissue is so well preserved that it bore the red coloration of the fresh meat. The beast is thought to have died after she fell into water and bogged down in a swamp from where she could not free herself. At the time of death her age must have been between 50 and 60 years.

The team involved in the expedition has taken all possible samples of blood, blood vessels, glands and soft tissue that may further help them in their work.