Mammoth Hair

Radiocarbon-dated to 19,551 years old — Woolly Mammoth Hair from Siberia, Russia. Part of the First Edition Mini Museum collection, now available as a stand-alone specimen.

Specimen Details

• Species: Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)
• Age: Radiocarbon-dated to 19,551 years old
• Origin: Indigirka River region, Siberia, Russia
• Condition: Untreated — preserved naturally; for display and study only
• Display: Acrylic jar housed in a glass-topped Riker display box (4" x 3" x 1")
• Includes: Specimen card / certificate of authenticity
• Note: Every tuft is unique — coloring and texture vary widely

About This Specimen

This is a genuine tuft of woolly mammoth hair recovered from a well-preserved specimen discovered near the Indigirka River in Siberia. The hair has not been treated or altered in any way, making it a remarkable direct connection to the Pleistocene megafauna that roamed the earth nearly 20,000 years ago.

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) evolved approximately 400,000 years ago in Siberia and eventually spread across Europe and into North America via the Beringian land bridge. Standing 10–12 feet at the shoulder, their dense, shaggy coats were a critical adaptation to the cold, treeless tundra-grasslands of the mammoth steppe. Populations survived on Wrangel Island, Russia, until as recently as 4,000 years ago.

"Various legends exist about frozen mammoths... What really appears to have happened is that one of them made a heroic attempt to take a bite out of this meat but was unable to keep it down, in spite of a generous use of spices." — Björn Kurtén, How to Deep-Freeze a Mammoth

Display & Presentation

The specimen is housed in an acrylic jar set inside a glass-topped Riker display box measuring 4" x 3" x 1". An information card is included and serves as the certificate of authenticity. Ready to display as-is or add to an existing fossil or natural history collection.

Further Reading

Kurtén, Björn. How to Deep-Freeze a Mammoth. Columbia University Press, 1986.
Cooper, Alan, et al. "Abrupt warming events drove Late Pleistocene Holarctic megafaunal turnover." Science (2015).
Tikhonov, Alexei, et al. "Comparative analysis of the mammoth populations on Wrangel Island and the Channel Islands." Advances in Mammoth Research 9 (2003).