Usually when we tell an animal "Stay!" we don't mean for a thousand years.

We're glad it happens, though, because animal mummies have a lot to teach us.

From ancient Egypt or the bogs of Europe, there are many examples of creatures—including dogs, baboons, and more—that have been preserved over the millennia. (Read about animal mummies in National Geographic magazine.)

The glamorous gold-entombed, carefully wrapped bodies most of us associate with mummies aren't actually the mummy majority.

Naturally occurring mummies are much more common than prepared ones, says Heather Gill-Frerking, scientific research curator for Mummies of the World.

Lack of oxygen, dry air, and extreme heat or cold can mummify an animal or a human. Take "bog bodies," which have been remarkably well