Foal of extinct horse frozen in Siberian permafrost for 40,000 years

The 40,000-year-old baby horse dug out of the permafrost in Siberia forty millennia after the rest of its species went extinct

  • The horse is a two month old foal of the extinct Lenskave species of wild horse and was found in Siberia 
  • It measures 9.3 hands (37 inches) tall and has been trapped in permafrost ever since it perished
  • Scientists say the animal was in excellent condition and will study it further to learn more about the species
  • The specimen was dug from its icy grave in the Batagai depression or crater earlier this month

Amazing pictures have been released of a foal that has been dug out of the Siberian permafrost after being frozen for 40,000 years.

The young horse, from the Lena horse species which is now extinct, is 9.3 hands (37 inches) tall and was only two months old when it perished.

It has today been revealed by scientists in Yakutsk, Russia, the world’s coldest city.

The young animal was dug from its icy grave in the Batagai depression or crater – nicknamed the ‘Mouth of Hell’ – earlier this month.

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Amazing pictures have been released of a foal (pictured) taking its first bow after being frozen in the Siberian permafrost for 40,000 years

The young horse is 9.3 hands (37 inches) tall and was only two months old when it perished

The prehistoric foal is part of a breed of extinct horses dubbed the Lenskave, or Lena horse. 

Scientists stumbled across the immaculately preserved youngster when they were working on the remains of ancient woolly mammoths.  

The brown foal was found during a Russian-Japanese paleontological expedition the Batagai depression in Verkhoyansky district between 9-14 August.


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The animal probably died by falling into a ‘natural trap’, possibly drowning in a melting ice pool, said Grigory Savvinov, deputy head of Russia’s North-Eastern Federal University, according to The Siberian Times.

‘The foal has completely preserved dark-brown hair, its tail and mane, as well as all internal organs,’ he said.

‘There are no visible wounds on its body. This is the first find in the world find of a pre-historic horse of such a young age and with such an amazing level of preservation.’

It has today been revealed by scientists to the media in Yakutsk, Russia, the world’s coldest city

The prehistoric foal is part of a breed of extinct horses dubbed the Lenskave, or Lena horse

The researchers said: ‘The foal has completely preserved dark-brown hair, its tail and mane, as well as all internal organs. There are no visible wounds on its body’

The brown foal was found during a Russian-Japanese paleontological expedition at the Batagai depression in Verkhoyansky district between 9-14 August

The animal probably died by falling into a ‘natural trap’, possibly drowning in a melting ice pool, said Grigory Savvinov, deputy head of Russia’s North-Eastern Federal University

The foal was found by accident and was in excellent condition when discovered. Analysis proved it was the extinct species and had been trapped in the permafrost for around 40,000 years 


Extinct Lenskaya Horse (pictured) look similar to the horses that roam the region today but are not genetically related to the modern-day inhabitants 

Late Pleistocene age fauna with woolly mammoths and Lenskaya horses was vastly different to today. The gash in the tundra where the foal was found was caused by the Soviets, who cleared forest here, but it is now being enlarged and shaped by climate change

Locals in the remote Yakutia region see this spectacular crater as superstitious, and call know it as the ‘gateway to the underworld’.

The gash in the tundra was caused by the Soviets, who cleared forest here, but it is now being enlarged and shaped by climate change, according to local scientists.

The young horse was buried at a level of around 100 feet (30 metres) in the tadpole-shaped depression which is a ‘megaslump’ one kilometre long and around half a mile (800 metres) wide.

‘The foal has no damage to its carcass, even its hair is preserved – which is incredibly rare for such ancient finds,’ said Semyon Grigoryev, head of the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk. 

‘This was called the Lenskaya, or Lena horse (Equus lenensis), genetically different from those living in Yakutia now,’ said the expert.

Locals in the remote Yakutia region where the foal was found see the Batagai depression or crater (pictured) as superstitious, and call know it as the ‘gateway to the underworld’

The young horse was buried at a level of around 100 feet (30 metres) in the tadpole-shaped depression which is a ‘megaslump’ one kilometre long and around half a mile (800 metres) wide

Scientists stumbled across the immaculately preserved youngster when they were working on the remains of woolly mammoths

It was dug from its icy grave in the Batagai depression or crater – nicknamed the ‘Mouth of Hell’ earlier this month

The specimen was immaculately preserved and it is hoped the specimen will be able to restore picture of the foal’s environment

The foal was completely preserved by permafrost and the researchers are hoping to study its bowel contents to understand the foal’s diet

The modern-day Yakut horse is the hardiest in the world, surviving temperatures of minus 60°C (-72°F) in the blistering Siberian winters.

The earlier breed populated Yakutia between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago, he said.

‘We’ll study content of its bowel to understand the foal’s diet. The autopsy will be carried out later’, said Mr Grigoryev.

‘The foal was completely preserved by permafrost.

‘The extra value of the unique find in that we obtained samples of soil layers where it was preserved, which means we will be able to restore picture of the foal’s environment.’ 

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