Two baby woolly mammoths that died "traumatic" deaths are giving researchers a look into how the elephant ancestor grew.
Called Lyuba and Khroma, the infant mammoths died at the ages of 1 and 2 months, respectively, PBS Newshour reported.
"These two exquisitely preserved baby mammoths are like two snapshots in time," said study co-author Zachary T. Calamari of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. "We can use them to understand how factors like location and age influenced the way mammoths grew into the huge adults that captivate us today."
The specimens, which have been dated to 40,000 years ago, are believed to be the most well-preserved examples of baby mammoths ever discovered. Both infants appear to have been suffocated to death since scans show that their air passages were clogged with mud.
For both animals, the mud acted as a "really thick batter that they got clogged in their trachea and they were unable to dislodge by coughing," said study co-author Daniel Fisher, director of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, as quoted by Live Science. "It basically prevented them from taking them another breath."
"It moved straight into her trachea and bronchi and by that time she was too exhausted and couldn't clear her airway," Fisher told Live Science. "It was just a matter of minutes before she would have lost consciousness."
Judging by the sediment found in her lungs, Lyuba likely died in a lake and may have crashed through frozen ice while crossing, while Khroma is believed to have perished when a riverbank collapsed.
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