Mummified remains of mystery monster found in Yakutia

dal51 (25)in #news • 8 years ago

By The Siberian Times reporter
09 August 2016
A new type of dinosaur? A predator, like a wolverine? Scientists puzzle over the new discovery.

The strange ancient creature was found in diamond yielding sands in Udachny, Mirninsky district of Yakutia, also known as the Sakha Republic. The diamond miners who unearthed it believe the 'monster mummy' is a previously unknown kind of dinosaur.
Experts are less certain, and want to study the unknown mini-monster more closely. One theory is a wolverine, a carnivorous mammal that resembles a small bear. Or could it be a sable or marten? For now, no-one is sure.

It is expected that the creature will be taken from Udachny - literally meaning 'lucky' - to regional capital Yakutsk, 1686 kilometres to the southeast.
The animal was found in diamondiferous sands in the town which date from the Mesozoic Era from about 252 to 66 million years ago.
The town is famous for the Udachnaya pipe diamond deposit, discovered in 1955, and mined since the 1960s. In 1974 a 1.7 kiloton atomic bomb was detonated 98 metres (322 ft) underground to create the basin for a tailings dam for the diamond mine.
Today's climate in the area is extreme sub-arctic. Average temperatures are from minus 43.6C (minus 46.5 F) to minus 35.2C (minus 31.4F) in January.