An ice age horse discovered in northern Canada will go on display in Yukon this week.
The remains were dug up by gold miners at Klondike in the Yukon in 1993 and have been described as a national treasure.
The partial carcass of the long-gone species has provided valuable information for scientists from an age 14,000 years before man dwelt in this area.
Yukon government scientist, Grant Zazula, said: “It’s not too often you get a chance to see a big chunk of a 26,000-year-old animal. It’s great that it’s finally on display.”
The horse was discovered in Last Chance Creek by three miners who thought the powerful stench was a dead packhorse from the days of the Klondike gold rush a century ago.
The horse had become stuck in mud and set-upon by wolves before or after death, as predator’s teeth marks were found on the flesh, hair and bones. All are in a remarkable state of preservation due to the permafrost, according to scientists.
Known as equus lambei, the horse was more like a pony and had a light-blond colouring and thick coat. The scientists said the hide showed that the animal looked something like Przewalski’s horse (pictured), which still survives today in Mongolia.
The prehistoric horse roamed a glacier-free zone which would have covered present-day Siberia, Alaska and Yukon.
The remains of the horse are on display at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre in, appropriately, the town of Whitehorse.
