9000-Year-Old Bison Mummy Discovered After Being Frozen at the End of the Last Ice Age

At the end of the last Ice Age about 11,000 years ago, many large mammals became extinct. Now, researchers have uncovered the body of one of these animals frozen in time. They've discovered the complete body of a 9,000-year-old bison within Eastern Siberia.

The bison itself is what is known as a Steppe bison, and it's the most complete frozen mummy of this species found to date. Now called the Ykagir bison mummy, the specimen has a complete brain, heart, blood vessels and digestive system, though some organs have shrunk significantly over time.

"The Yukagir bison mummy became the third find out of four now known complete mummies of this species discovered in the world, and one out of two adult speciments that are being kept preserved with internal organs and stored in frozen conditions," said Olga Potapova, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The Steppe bison is believed to have evolved somewhere in South Asia, and eventually became extinct some time during the late Pleistocene. Over two meters tall in height, it weighed almost 2,000 pounds and closely resembled modern bison species, though its horns were far larger.

"The exclusively good preservation of the Ykagir bison mummy allows direct anatomical comparisons with modern species of bison and cattle, as well as with extinct species of bison that were gone at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary," said Evgeny Maschenko, one of the researchers.

The findings reveal a bit more about this ancient species. Not only that, but it shows a bit more about the evolution of modern forms of bison.

"The next steps to be done include further examination of the bison's gross anatomy, and other detailed studies on its histology, parasites, and bones and teeth," said Potapova. "We expect that the results of these studies will reveal not only the cause of death of this particular specimen, but also might shed light on the species behavior and causes of its extinction."