Scientists have made an incredible discovery of a nearly perfectly-preserved foal that lived up to 40,000 years ago.

According to the Siberian Times, the horse was buried deep in permafrost in the Yakutia region of Siberia.

"The unique find was made in the permafrost of Batagai depression. The foal was completely preserved by permafrost," said Semyon Grigoryev, head of the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk. "The foal has completely preserved dark-brown hair, its tail and mane, as well as all internal organs. There are no visible wounds on its body.

"This is the first find in the world find of a pre-historic horse of such a young age and with such an amazing level of preservation."

Grigoryev stated that his team will be able to report the exact time period during which the foal lived after studying the soil samples recovered along with the horse.

"The extra value of the unique find is that we obtained samples of soil layers where it was preserved, which means we will be able to restore a picture of the foal’s environment."

Siberia's Batagai depression

The foal was found around 30 metres deep in the tadpole-shaped Batagai depression, which is a 'megaslump' measuring approximately one kilometre long and around 800 metres wide. The area was initially caused by forest clearing and now being shaped by climate change.