Woolly Mammoth Mummy Yields Well-Preserved Brain

The mummified brain of a well-preserved woolly mammoth found in the Siberian permafrost is the only mostly intact mammoth brain known to science, which has been described in a new study.

The mummified carcass of the 39,000-year-old woolly mammoth, which included the brain with folds and blood vessels visible, was found in August 2010 on the Laptev Sea coast near Yukagir, Russia. The mammoth, named Yuka, was 6 to 9 years old when it died, the researchers found

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In the new study, researchers examined the animal's brain using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Thanks to the scanning technology, the investigators were able to study the well-preserved cerebellum, located at the back of the brain, and even see the white and gray matter of the cerebrum. The forebrain was in poorer condition than the cerebellum, the researchers wrote in the study, published online Oct. 25 in the journal Quaternary International.

"Until now, there was no opportunity to examine the whole brain of a woolly mammoth, which might have had complicated behavior, similar to modern elephants," Anastasia Kharlamova, of the Research Institute of Human Morphology, Russian Academy of the Medical Sciences, in Moscow, and colleagues write in the journal article.

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