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The BBC is reporting on the discovery of a mammoth carcass found preserved in Siberian ice for at least 10,000 years. The carcass is that of a juvenile mammoth, about 2 1/2 years old, that researchers have dubbed “Yuka.” Its flesh, and even hair, have endured astonishingly well over millennia buried in ice. Video of the mammoth being uncovered can be seen on the BBC website.
Researchers on the joint BBC/Discovery expedition are saying that this adorable ginger beast would have almost certainly interacted with humans. In that we probably ate him after a hot pursuit from a lion. As Discovery News quotes David Fisher, curator and director of the University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology, as saying:
Yuka then apparently fell, breaking one of the lower hind legs. At this point, humans may have moved in to control the carcass, butchering much of the animal and removing parts that they would use immediately.
If the findings are confirmed, it will be the first mammoth remains to show human interaction. Details of the expedition will appear on Woolly Mammoth: Secrets of the Ice, airing tonight in the UK. [BBC, Discovery News]
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Id love to see the Young Earth creationists explain this one.
One of the key differences between catastrophism and uniformitarianism is that to function, uniformitarianism requires the assumption of vast time-lines, whereas catastrophism can function with or without assumptions of long timelines. [Wikipedia]
We like to think of the Earth as a nice stable place to live where change happens slowly and in predictable ways. It’s possible that Earth’s history has been punctuated with short bursts of rapid change. You don’t have to be a young Earth creationist to envisage this.
Of course there are punctuating events that cause rapid change within an environment. I don’t think anyone actually disputes this.
Uniformitarianism in science is more a case of matter complying to the same physical laws billions of years ago as it does today. For example, radioactive decay occurs at a constant rate.
majerski – they will always find some reason to believe in fairies.
Died in the flood obviously duuuh! But seriously, if anyone clings to the earth being 6,000-10,000 years old then they are usually in an unassailable position. No amount of reason or logic is going to sway them.
Amazing find, hopefully DNA extraction will be much easier off of this specimen rather than the frozen bones found before. The carcass also allows for people to look at the gross anatomy of the mammoth.