Another paleontological seminar was held at the Mammoth Museum of North-Eastern Federal University with the participation of NEFU scientists, graduate students and students, as well as specialists from the Yakutsk Research Institute of Agriculture, YSAA and the Korean Sooam Biotech Research Foundation. The object of research was the foal of an ancient horse, found last year in the Batagai Basin of the Verkhoyansk District.

The foal carcass of the ancient horse that lived on the territory of Yakutia 42,000 years ago, is unique and the only one in the world in its preservation, according to Lena Grigorieva, leading researcher at the International Center for Collective Use of Molecular Paleontology. According to the researcher, the material collected at the seminar will be sent for microbiological, histological and cellular studies.

“The study of materials will give a general idea of ​​the microflora of the ancient horse”, said Yan Ahremenko, an associate professor of the Department of Histology and Microbiology at NEFU Medical Institute. “Perhaps we will find lactic acid microorganisms and ancient bifidobacteria as in the case of the mammoth, in the intestines of which a large biocenosis of bacteria was found”.

Scientists also conducted a computed tomography and scan of the foal carcass to create a 3D model of the external surface of the carcass and its internal structure. As the head of the laboratory “Center for Three-Dimensional Modeling and Virtual Reality” of NEFU Institute of Physics and Technologies, Sergey Vasiliev, noted, this will allow to create a complete picture of what the foal looked like when it was in the basin.

“In case of finding the remains of unique discoveries, we always try to organize their computed tomography, because with its help we can fix the current preservation after the moment of discovery without disturbing the integrity of tissues or organs”, said Semyon Grigoriev, the laboratory head of P.A. Lazarev Mammoth Museum of NEFU Institute of Applied Ecology of the North.

Let us remember, last year NEFU scientists told about the foal of an ancient horse that was found on August 11, and on August 13 about the mammoth skeleton with soft tissues. The paleontological expedition took place in the Batagai Basin and Yunugen of the Verkhoyansky Ulus from 9 to 14 August 2018. The expedition was attended by scientists from NEFU IAEN, the Japanese University of Kindai and Fuji TV. The head of the research program for the study of the ancient foal is the IAEN Director Grigory Savvinov.