Yana, a 130,000-year-old baby mammoth, goes under the scalpel

At a laboratory in Russia's Far East, scientists carry out a post-mortem but the body they are dissecting is a baby mammoth who died around 130,000 years ago. Discovered last year, the calf nicknamed Yana, for the river basin where she was found -- is in a remarkable state of preservation, giving scientists a glimpse into the past and, potentially, the future as climate change thaws the permafrost in which she was found.

Scientists hope to find unique ancient bacteria and carry out genetic analysis of the plants and spores Yana ate to learn more about the place and time she lived. The calf largely avoided the ravages of time because she lay for thousands of years encased in permafrost in the Sakha region in Siberia. Yana could be the best-preserved mammoth specimen ever found, retaining internal organs and soft tissues, the Russian scientists said.