Mammoth discovery.[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A reindeer reindeer, ruminant mammal, genus Rangifer, of the deer family, found in arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America. It is the only deer in which both sexes have antlers. herder in northern Siberia recently discovered the most complete fossil of a baby woolly wool·ly also wool·y adj. wool·li·er also wool·i·er, wool·li·est also wool·i·est 1. a. Relating to, consisting of, or covered with wool. b. Resembling wool. 2. a. mammoth ever found. Scientists believe the baby, which they nicknamed Lyuba, lived sometime before these hairy, elephant-like animals became extinct, or died out, around 10,000 years ago. Lyuba's body was frozen in a layer of permafrost permafrost, permanently frozen soil, subsoil, or other deposit, characteristic of arctic and some subarctic regions; similar conditions are also found at very high altitudes in mountain ranges. . This layer of permanently frozen soil is so cold that it prevented the growth of bacteria that cause decay. That kept the 50 kilogram kilogram, abbr. kg, fundamental unit of mass in the metric system, defined as the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram, a platinum-iridium cylinder kept at Sèvres, France, near Paris. (110 pound) baby mammoth preserved since the last ice age, a cold period when ice covered large areas of the planet. By studying Lyuba's tusks, muscles, and organs, scientists will have a chance to learn more about how baby mammoths developed. Her body might even reveal clues that could solve the mystery of why mammoths became extinct. |
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