Carbon dating on the remains of a horse found last fall near the Alaskan-Canadian border show it died 26,000 years ago, experts said, making it one of the best-preserved Ice Age animals ever discovered in North America.
The dark chestnut hide is complete with blond mane and tail. Also recovered were a right foreleg with the flesh remaining, a couple of bones and stomach contents.Miners found the horse near Dawson City, 340 miles north of Whitehorse.
Experts believe it may have died in a creekbed and that an overhanging bank collapsed on it, preserving it through the millenia.
"This is a very significant find in terms of understanding Ice Age animals, and it gives us a window into life in the Ice Age," Yukon government archaeologist Ruth Gotthardt said this week.
As one example, she said, artists' depictions have shown the small Ice Age horse as having a short mane and tail, but this animal had a long mane and tail and beautiful coat.
The remains were so well-preserved that intestinal membranes are distinguishable, complete with digested food. And it still smelled strongly of dead horse, she added.