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Lot 8066
4 December 2005, 11:00 PST
Los AngelesSold for US$104,750 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistPygmy Woolly Mammoth
Mammuthus sp.
Pleistocene
Khatanga region, Eastern Siberia, Russia
Recovered by Russian geologists in 1999, carbon dating results estimate the present pygmy woolly mammoth specimen at 18,000 years old. The mammoth, a female, belongs to a pygmy population that is known to have inhabited Eastern Siberia 20,000 – 17,000 years ago. Evidence is strong that pygmy mammoths are direct predecessors of the well-known larger mammoths, Mammuthus primigenius, that lived in Eastern Siberia much later, from 10,000 – 7,000 years ago. A preliminary study has estimated the age of the present individual at 40 years. The excellently preserved skeleton is virtually 95 percent complete. Though the skeleton was recovered from permafrost, no remains of soft tissue are preserved, indicating that the animal’s carcass was exposed to the elements, causing decomposition, before it was permanently buried in the frozen soil.
The skeleton comprises: skull with upper teeth, the lower jaw, 2 tusks, 7 neck vertebrae, 23 body vertebrae, the sacrum (4 fused vertebrae), 20 tail vertebrae, 2 scapulae, the pelvis, one of the two segments of the sternum, 38 ribs, all long bones of front legs and almost all small bones of front feet, the long bones of the hind legs and almost all small bones of the hind feet. Bones of another mammoth of the same size and comparable age were used to replace: 1 body vertebra, 6 small tail vertebra, 5 ribs, 4 small bones of the left foot, 2 fingers and 4 small bones of the hind feet. Some restoration is seen on one scapula and the pelvis.Some restoration is seen on the skull, both scapula's, pelvis and both proximal and distal ends of the large leg bones.
Height of skeleton is 7 feet, 3 inches. Length of skeleton, from tip of tusk to tail, is 12 feet 4 inches
Pleistocene
Khatanga region, Eastern Siberia, Russia
Recovered by Russian geologists in 1999, carbon dating results estimate the present pygmy woolly mammoth specimen at 18,000 years old. The mammoth, a female, belongs to a pygmy population that is known to have inhabited Eastern Siberia 20,000 – 17,000 years ago. Evidence is strong that pygmy mammoths are direct predecessors of the well-known larger mammoths, Mammuthus primigenius, that lived in Eastern Siberia much later, from 10,000 – 7,000 years ago. A preliminary study has estimated the age of the present individual at 40 years. The excellently preserved skeleton is virtually 95 percent complete. Though the skeleton was recovered from permafrost, no remains of soft tissue are preserved, indicating that the animal’s carcass was exposed to the elements, causing decomposition, before it was permanently buried in the frozen soil.
The skeleton comprises: skull with upper teeth, the lower jaw, 2 tusks, 7 neck vertebrae, 23 body vertebrae, the sacrum (4 fused vertebrae), 20 tail vertebrae, 2 scapulae, the pelvis, one of the two segments of the sternum, 38 ribs, all long bones of front legs and almost all small bones of front feet, the long bones of the hind legs and almost all small bones of the hind feet. Bones of another mammoth of the same size and comparable age were used to replace: 1 body vertebra, 6 small tail vertebra, 5 ribs, 4 small bones of the left foot, 2 fingers and 4 small bones of the hind feet. Some restoration is seen on one scapula and the pelvis.Some restoration is seen on the skull, both scapula's, pelvis and both proximal and distal ends of the large leg bones.
Height of skeleton is 7 feet, 3 inches. Length of skeleton, from tip of tusk to tail, is 12 feet 4 inches