Footage has emerged of a perfectly preserved foal dug out of the Siberian ice after being frozen there for 40,000 years.

The foal belongs to an extinct species known as the Lena Horse or Equus lenensis, which is genetically distinct from those living in the area today.

Found in the permafrost of the north eastern region of Yakutia, the specimen’s skin, hair, hooves and tail are all in excellent condition.

Yakutia is well-known as a source of frozen mammoths, which for years have been unearthed across its vast frozen wilderness.

Dr Semyon Grigoryev described the baby horse as “completely unique”, with exceptionally well preserved hair and internal organs.

Local residents first came across the young horse in the Batagaika crater, which has been dubbed “the Gateway to the Underworld”.