39,000-year-old woolly mammoth to be displayed in Taipei
2013/09/15 16:44:15
(From the exhibition's Facebook page)
Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) A woolly mammoth that died and was frozen in permafrost 39,000 years ago will be displayed at an exhibition in Taipei in November.
The mammoth, nicknamed "Yuka," was discovered off the coast of the Republic of Sakha in Siberia in 2010 and is considered one of the most well-preserved mammoth specimens to date.
"Yuka" is currently being exhibited in Japan's Yokohama, where it was first displayed to the public, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors.
The female mammoth is estimated to have died at the age of 10 and its skin, trunk, tail and four legs remain in good condition, according to Media Sphere Communications Ltd., one of the organizers of the Taipei exhibition.
"We suppose that the mammoth fell into water or got bogged down in a swamp, could not free herself and died. Due to this fact, the lower part of the body, including the lower jaw and tongue tissue, was preserved very well," Semyon Grigoriev, head of the expedition that discovered the remains, told The Siberian Times in May.
The scientists were also able to obtain liquid blood and muscle tissue from the mammoth for further studies.
In addition to the mammoth, a prehistoric woolly rhinoceros called "Kolyma" and the skeletons of antelopes, bison and saber-tooth cats from the Pleistocene epoch, which lasted from about 2.58 million years ago to 11,700 years ago, will also be among the more-than 200 items to be showcased at the exhibition, the organizers said.
The exhibition will run from Nov. 16 to March 2 next year at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
(By Christie Chen)
