Scientists from the US and Russia have pieced together 80% of the species' genome, using DNA samples of hair preserved from two mammoths mummified from the ice age.

They hope the ground-breaking development will be a step closer in bringing back the vast beasts from extinction, by inserting their genes into a modern-day elephant.

Professor Stephan Schuster, a leading member of the research team from Pennsylvania State University, said the find would allow scientists to retrieve the genetic information that was believed to have been lost when the mammoth died out.

He added it may "bring an extinct species that modern humans have missed meeting by only a few thousand years."