Meet Lyuba, the world's best preserved mammoth
- Published
Lyuba, a baby woolly mammoth that lived over 40,000 years ago, goes on show to the British public for the first time today at London's Natural History Museum. She's said to be the best preserved example of her species ever found.
Lyuba (meaning 'love' in Russian) was found back in 2007 by a reindeer hunter and his young sons who were out searching for wood along a frozen river in Russia. It's thought Lyuba had died after falling into mud near a river.
Lyuba looks more like a modern-day elephant with wrinkled, leathery skin. The thick hair which would have kept her warm in life has eroded away, leaving just a few tufts. She's very delicate so has to be wrapped up very carefully when she's being transported!
Scientists examining Lyuba found she still had remains of her mother's milk and parts of her last meal before she died.
They also found pieces of dung inside her stomach, which suggests she ate her mother's dung. Baby elephants still do this today because the dung provides bacteria to help digest food.
The exhibition Mammoths: Ice Age Giants opens today and runs until 7 September. As well as finding out more about mammoths, visitors can see other prehistoric giants like the huge mastodon, the fearsome sabre-tooth cat and the giant cave bear.