The head of this specimen, entirely covered with skin and very well-preserved, was first discovered in 2002. After hearing about the discovery, a polar explorer carried out the expedition with his team to extract the remains from the permafrost. One of the members of the team was the French polar explorer, "Mammoth-Hunter"
Bernard Buigues, known for carrying out expeditions to the North Pole, Siberia since the 1990s. The discovery of the Yukagir Mammoth, is described as one of the greatest paleontological discoveries of all time as it revealed that woolly mammoths had
temporal glands between the ear and the eye The Yukagir mammoth's
permafrost tomb preserved its head, tusks, front legs, and parts of its stomach and intestinal tract. From its bones and enormous tusks, the scientists who rushed to the site (including mammoth experts
Dick Mol and Larry Agenbroad) guessed that the woolly mammoth was an old male that when alive stood over tall at the shoulder and weighed . Furthermore, scientists were able to discover that the main component of the Yukagir's final meal was grass, including stems from the family Poaceae. Remarkably, like many of the dung's floral remains, the stems have retained their color and shape ever since the woolly mammoth tore them from the tundra roughly 22,500 years ago. Other studies estimate that the Yukagir mammoth reached a maximum shoulder height of . Based on the Yukagir Mammoth's last meal, scientists were able to discover facts about the elephant's ancestors and conduct an environmental reconstruction showing fungi's importance in the process of
nutrient cycling in the mammoth steppe. The following types of research were agreed upon at the meeting of the Scientific Council: • Geological and pedological surveys of the site, as well as research on the process of fossilization; • Research on the external structures of the mammoth, as well as on the internal structures using nondamaging methods; • Histological, cytological, and genetic research on the mammoth's soft tissue; • Paleobotanical and paleoclimatologic analysis; • Microbiological research on the soil and the inside of the mammoth. == Exhibitions ==