This WOOLLY MAMMOTH Is One Of The Most Well Preserved Ever Found.

At first blush, I thought this was a hoax. Turns out, it’s just goddamn radical. Researchers have encountered an impressively preserved wooly mammoth, with features such as hair and foot pads still in fact. Bless you, ice! Bless you.

io9:

Rarely do researchers encounter a woolly mammoth that is as perfectly preserved as the one you see here; recently discovered entombed in the arctic steppes of Siberia, the juvenile mammoth (which has been named “Yuka”) has been so well protected throughout the millenia that its foot pads and hair are still intact. What’s more, researchers say its thick, strawberry blonde locks are unlike any they’ve ever seen.

Researchers had long believed woolly mammoths to possess dark coats of long, shaggy hair. That was until 2006, when genetic analyses revealed that these massive animals may have sported lighter coats than we once thought. Now, Yuka has provided researchers with direct evidence that this was, in fact the case.

Also interesting is what the creature’s remains reveal about the way it died.

“Already there is dramatic evidence of a life-and-death struggle between Yuka and some top predator, probably a lion,” leading mammoth expert, Daniel Fisher,  told the BBC.

Fantastic stuff. Now give me my fucking Encino Man, science!