A RARE fossilised skull of a steppe mammoth, which could shed light on the evolution of these animals, has been unearthed in the Auvergne region of southern France.
Only a handful of skeletons have been found of this species of mammoth which was around 3.7 metres high and lived during the middle Pleistocene, around 400,000 years ago.
Palaeontologists Frederic Lacombat and Dick Mol estimate that the animal was 35 years old when it died.
When fully unearthed, this fossil will be transported to Crozatier Museum in nearby Le Puy-en-Velay.
