A baby mammoth which was perfectly preserved in ice for 40,000 years died by drowning in mud, Russian scientists have revealed.

The mystery surrounding the remains found in the ice in the Russian arctic had proved tricky to solve.

Researchers had been trying to work out how the mammoth met its end since the find two years ago, and in the latest issue of ‘National Geographic’, scientists explained how they solved the puzzle.

After carrying out an autopsy on the animal in St. Petersburg laboratories, they found a thick layer of sand and clay in the mouth and trunk – the four-month-old mammoth must have drowned to death in mud.

The species (mammuthus primigenius) lived in the north east of Siberia. They became extinct 14,000 years ago – wiped out by either disease or the impact of a meteorite.

But the frozen body of the baby mammoth provides a unique glimpse into the past.

Baby ‘Ljuba’, as researches have named the remains, is about 40,000 years old and has been incredibly well preserved - even the eyelashes are still recognisable.

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