Lyuba
Encyclopedia
Lyuba is a female woolly mammoth
calf (Mammuthus primigenius) who died ca 40,000 years ago at the age of one month. She is by far the best preserved mammoth mummy in the world, surpassing Dima, a male mammoth calf mummy which had previously been the best known specimen.
Discovered in May 2007 by reindeer breeder and hunter Yuri Khudi in Russia
's Arctic Yamal Peninsula
, she was named "Lyuba" (diminutive from Lyubov' (Любовь) = "Love") after the discoverer's wife. The calf weighed 50 kg (110 lb), was 85 centimeters (33.5 in.) high and measured 130 centimeters (51 in.) from trunk to tail, roughly the same size as a large dog.
Upon finding, the calf was remarkably well-preserved; her eyes and trunk were intact and some fur remained on her body. The mammoth was transferred to Jikei University School of Medicine
in Japan
for further studying, including computer tomography scans. Lyuba is believed to have suffocated, from inhaling mud as she struggled while bogged down in deep mud in the bed of a river which her herd was crossing. The clay-like substance that likely suffocated her also "pickled" her, preserving the mammoth in a nearly pristine state. Her skin and organs are intact, and scientists were able to identify milk from her mother in her stomach, and fecal matter in her intestine, including evidence that, like some modern young elephants, she ate adult herd members' faeces to build up a normal intestinal flora of bacteria to help to digest plant material. While previously discovered mammoth specimens, which are less well-preserved than Lyuba, appeared to be starving, Lyuba appears very healthy. Lyuba's organs and skin are in perfect condition. By examining Lyuba's teeth, researchers hope to gain insight into what caused Ice Age mammals, including the mammoths, to become extinct
at the end of the Pleistocene era around 10,000 years ago.
Cross-sections of her left milk tusk
and of a premolar
tooth suggests she was descended from mammoths which recolonized Siberia from Alaska (crossing via Beringia) after the original Siberian mammoths died out or were hunted out.
in Chicago. Other tour stops include Liberty Science Center
in Jersey City in Fall 2010, Anchorage Museum, Missouri History Museum
, Boston Museum of Science, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
, and San Diego Natural History Museum
.
Woolly mammoth
The woolly mammoth , also called the tundra mammoth, is a species of mammoth. This animal is known from bones and frozen carcasses from northern North America and northern Eurasia with the best preserved carcasses in Siberia...
calf (Mammuthus primigenius) who died ca 40,000 years ago at the age of one month. She is by far the best preserved mammoth mummy in the world, surpassing Dima, a male mammoth calf mummy which had previously been the best known specimen.
Discovered in May 2007 by reindeer breeder and hunter Yuri Khudi in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's Arctic Yamal Peninsula
Yamal Peninsula
The Yamal Peninsula , located in Yamal-Nenets autonomous district of northwest Siberia, Russia, extends roughly 700 km and is bordered principally by the Kara Sea, Baydaratskaya Bay on the west, and by the Gulf of Ob on the east...
, she was named "Lyuba" (diminutive from Lyubov' (Любовь) = "Love") after the discoverer's wife. The calf weighed 50 kg (110 lb), was 85 centimeters (33.5 in.) high and measured 130 centimeters (51 in.) from trunk to tail, roughly the same size as a large dog.
Upon finding, the calf was remarkably well-preserved; her eyes and trunk were intact and some fur remained on her body. The mammoth was transferred to Jikei University School of Medicine
Jikei University School of Medicine
is a private university in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Jikei means mercy and love in Japanese.-The three major private medical schools in Tokyo:*Keio University School of Medicine*Jikei University School of Medicine*Nippon Medical School...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for further studying, including computer tomography scans. Lyuba is believed to have suffocated, from inhaling mud as she struggled while bogged down in deep mud in the bed of a river which her herd was crossing. The clay-like substance that likely suffocated her also "pickled" her, preserving the mammoth in a nearly pristine state. Her skin and organs are intact, and scientists were able to identify milk from her mother in her stomach, and fecal matter in her intestine, including evidence that, like some modern young elephants, she ate adult herd members' faeces to build up a normal intestinal flora of bacteria to help to digest plant material. While previously discovered mammoth specimens, which are less well-preserved than Lyuba, appeared to be starving, Lyuba appears very healthy. Lyuba's organs and skin are in perfect condition. By examining Lyuba's teeth, researchers hope to gain insight into what caused Ice Age mammals, including the mammoths, to become extinct
Quaternary extinction event
The Quaternary period saw the extinctions of numerous predominantly larger, especially megafaunal, species, many of which occurred during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epoch. However, the extinction wave did not stop at the end of the Pleistocene, but continued especially on...
at the end of the Pleistocene era around 10,000 years ago.
Cross-sections of her left milk tusk
Milk tusk
In elephants and other tusked mammals, a milk tusk or tush is the milk precursor of the permanent tusk....
and of a premolar
Premolar
The premolar teeth or bicuspids are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant, making eight premolars total in the mouth. They have at least two cusps. Premolars can be considered as a 'transitional tooth' during chewing, or...
tooth suggests she was descended from mammoths which recolonized Siberia from Alaska (crossing via Beringia) after the original Siberian mammoths died out or were hunted out.
Exhibition
Lyuba, on loan from the Shemanovskiy Museum and Exhibition Center, will be showcased in an exhibition entitled "Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age." This exhibition is scheduled to make stops at ten venues in North America and overseas over a four year period, having been developed at the Field MuseumField Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex known as the Museum Campus Chicago...
in Chicago. Other tour stops include Liberty Science Center
Liberty Science Center
Liberty Science Center is an interactive science museum and learning center located in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey.The center, which first opened in 1993 as New Jersey's first major state science museum, has science exhibits, the largest IMAX Dome theater in the United States,...
in Jersey City in Fall 2010, Anchorage Museum, Missouri History Museum
Missouri History Museum
The Missouri History Museum is located in St. Louis, Missouri in Forest Park. The museum is operated by the Missouri Historical Society and was founded in 1866...
, Boston Museum of Science, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help museum visitors learn about the natural history of...
, and San Diego Natural History Museum
San Diego Natural History Museum
The San Diego Natural History Museum was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History. The present location of the museum in San Diego's Balboa Park was dedicated on January 14, 1933....
.
External links
- National Geographic article Retrieved 24-04-09
- Waking the Baby Mammoth documentary video Retrieved 21-04-09