Mammoth remains still bleeding

The denuded skin of the mammoth found in Yakutia in the extreme north-east of Russia has started bleeding, Director of the Mammoth Museum of the Institute of the Applied Environmental Science of the North Semion Grigoriev announced at a press-conference.
"It can be assumed that the blood of mammoths had some cryo-protective properties," said Semyon Grigoriev, head of the Museum of Mammoths of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North at the North Eastern Federal University as cited by Interfax news agency. He stressed that this blood is of great importance for further research.

Scientists say they have managed to find mammoth blood during the excavation of a grown female animal on the Lyakhovsky Islands, the southernmost group of the New Siberian Islands in the Arctic seas of northeastern Russia.

The muscle tissue of the animal was well-preserved as this part of the mammoth's body was trapped in pure ice, while the upper part was discovered in the middle of the tundra. The researchers established that the female mammoth was between 50 and 60 years old when it died.

The head of the museum also suggested that the mammoth lived from 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.
The expedition took place from the end of April until the 22nd of May and discovered an adult mammoth in the ice for the first time in 112 years.

The mammoth was found on one of the New Siberian Islands.

Three adult mammoth carcasses, including the latest discovery of the Yakut scientists, have been found in the history of paleontology.

Mammoths are believed to have died off around 4,000 years ago. There is dispute among scientists about the exact cause of the extinction - climate change and hunting by man are frequently cited as causes.