A woolly mammoth that lived and died nearly 40,000 years ago has given us a spectacular scientific first, millennia later.

From the skin and muscle of a mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) named Yuka, whose remains were exquisitely preserved in the Siberian permafrost, a team of scientists has sequenced ancient RNA nearly three times older than the previous record-holder for ancient RNA – a 14,300-year-old wolf puppy .

This is something scientists were unsure was possible. RNA has a notoriously rapid decay rate compared to DNA. The fact that fragments of it were able to survive well enough for sequencing for tens of thousands of years is nothing short of wondrous.

Related: Scientists Have Sequenced Mammoth DNA That's Over a Million Years Old

What's even more exciting is that

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