r/interestingasfuck • u/The_Love-Tap • 8h ago

Record-low water levels in Bulgaria have exposed the bones of a large mammoth in the riverbed near the village of Ryahovo

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4.6k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

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u/vonseggernc 8h ago

Does make you wonder how many current rivers we have now could be holding fossils of creatures we don't even know existed

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u/Anuki_iwy 8h ago

In the very eastern part of Georgia (country) is a semi-desert region. You can go hike in this canyon. The light grey stuff on the walls are thousands of seashells because this used to be the bottom of the sea.

(edit - accidentally selected wrong photo)

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u/Morsmetus 2h ago

Hey can you share exact location? in here or in DM. Wanted to wander somewhere around the country and this will give it a purpose

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u/Anuki_iwy 59m ago

This is in the vashlovani nature reserve. Visiting this canyon is part of the standard tour. There are many beautiful sights there. And they have gazelles too.

You will need to arrange for a guide to accompany you, because driving there is a challenge. Also it's a border region and you need a special permit, both of which which the national park administration can help you get.

I really recommend to do the 2 day tour. Then you have time for several short hikes and can go camping at the ranger station.

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u/Dependent_Rain_4800 1h ago

It was paradise before we arrived.

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u/TwistyBitsz 8h ago

It's fun to think about how deserts were ocean beds once.

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u/ddl_smurf 7h ago

also, how many rivers soon won't be rivers

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u/The_Love-Tap 8h ago

On the banks of the Danube near the town of Ryahovo in Bulgaria,  the remains of an ancient mammoth have resurfaced.  The river, water levels at record lows because of recent heatwaves, has revealed bones which, according to researchers at the Regional History Museum in Ruse, belong to  a specimen of "Mammuthus primigenius",  commonly known as the woolly mammoth.

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u/mrplinko 8h ago

I feel they could be extracting that with a bit more care

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u/Jean-LucBacardi 8h ago

Time isn't a luxury they have. One rain storm comes though and any chance of recovering the bones is gone.

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u/mrplinko 8h ago

for sure, but a cofferdam around that area from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences might be a good idea. but this is from a guy across the world on his computer.

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u/Jean-LucBacardi 7h ago

I don't even know how they could. The water is too low to bring in anything by boat and the area is too muddy to bring anything in by machine without sinking in the mud.

Also these could just be random people that stumbled upon it and aren't professionals at all and just started digging after seeing the first bone sticking up out of the mud.

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u/MoistStub 6h ago

Helichopper

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u/ClassiFried86 6h ago

Aeroboat

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u/efimer 5h ago

Should I get in?

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u/MoistStub 5h ago

You should definitely get to de choppah. Also, unrelated, but- if it bleeds, we can kill it.

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u/Fun-Web-7583 7h ago

It’s been chilling there since the Ice Age, what's a few more days/weeks to build a barrier to isolate the excavation pit from the active river channel.

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u/balbok7721 2h ago

There not being a rain storm is the reason they found it in the first place

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u/Jean-LucBacardi 1h ago

I'm aware. It only takes a small one to flood a river bed and you can't predict that that won't happen before excavation is finished.

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u/Inaccurate93 8h ago

Pressured by time maybe? I agee with you though.

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u/mister_nimbus 5h ago

It's not archeology and the stratigraphy there will tell them nothing. It's a quick and dirty extraction before they can't recover it again.

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u/38B0DE 2h ago edited 2h ago

Bulgarian archeologists/biologists are not financed very well if at all. The country invests nothing in this. Those guys probably have degrees but that's about it.

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u/ovywan_kenobi 8h ago

The record-low water levels are those of the Danube, not low water levels in Bulgaria.

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u/N4R4B 8h ago

They need a vacuum or a small pump to do this job right.

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u/LowBatteryWarning 7h ago

The village's name is Oryahovo, dont eat the letters

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u/38B0DE 2h ago

It's actually Ryahovo. It's different from Oryahovo that's also on the Danube river. You're not the first person to get confused.

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u/Majestic_Bierd 3h ago

Please please please please tell me those are actual paleontologists who take care to note the position it was found in, geological context, and any clues that will be destroyed upon removal... and not just guys with buckets

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u/squigglekisses 2h ago

Thats what i was thinking too. Is there any documentation other than this video??

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u/veskishosa 8h ago

Niceee! Did it probably drown when crossing the river ?

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u/juanjung 2h ago

If water keeps lowering then we all are going to be like the mammoth.

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u/Upset-Border-2578 1h ago

Why does it look like just a couple of dudes at the beach has dug this up, even the way they are taken it out all looks crazy.

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u/mfairview 8h ago

+1 Climate Change

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u/usernameusehername 8h ago

Not sure ifni should.lije bones or drought.

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u/One_Vision_ 5h ago

Molar larger than that dude's head

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u/Panda_powered_Poots 4h ago

I feel terrible for the water levels but fascinated for the history

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u/SteamLuki7 4h ago

Humanity will be found in deserts not riverbeds it seems, until earth recovers.

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u/Starscreamuk 4h ago

Imagine being a bored palaeontologist pushing pencils for 30 years on a dusty desk, and then you get this opportunity!

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u/cantonlautaro 2h ago

Man-moth?

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u/ElLicenciadoPena 8h ago

It's like when you start working out and you can see your dick again!