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The Melting Permafrost in Siberia Revealed a Mysterious 18,000-Year-Old Puppy

It turns out that maybe humans haven’t changed all that much in the past 20,000 years.

At least, not when it comes to puppy love.

Scientists believe the male animal, found near the Indigirka River in Siberia, was around 2 months old when it died. Despite it being preserved by the freezing temperatures with its fur, whiskers, and teeth intact, researchers are not entire sure what species the little guy belongs to.

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Un cane di 18.000 anni. In Siberia è stato trovato  un cucciolo di animale di circa due mesi perfettamente conservato in uno strato di permafrost: risale a 18 mila anni fa e gli scienziati, che l’hanno mostrato lunedì per la prima volta dopo il ritrovamento avvenuto un anno e mezzo fa, lo stanno analizzando tramite prove sul DNA. Nonostante sia ben conservato, con naso, pelo e denti ancora intatti, la creatura ha spiazzato gli stusiosi. I test, infatti, non sono stati ancora in grado di stabilire la sua specie. Forse un cane dell’era glaciale, forse un lupo. O, ancora, l’anello della transizione evolutiva da lupo a cane Il cucciolo, che era maschio, è stato chiamato Dogor: ha pelliccia, scheletro, denti, testa, naso e baffi ancora intatti. #dogor #siberia #ritrovamenti #scienza #science #animals #life #evolution #anellimancanti #curiosità #scoperte #scopertesorprendenti

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“The Centre has Europe’s largest DNA bank of all canines from around the globe, yet in this case they couldn’t identify it from the first try,” admits Love Dalen, a representative from the Swedish Centre for Palaeogenetics.

 

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They do know it’s around 18,000 years old, though preliminary gene sequences was unable to confidently call it a wolf or a dog – or really anything we currently know about.

Well-preserved remains of an ice age wolf were discovered in the area a few years ago (40,000 years old), and dozens of woolly mammoth bodies have also been recovered from the frozen ground. Some scientists hope they’ll be able to use the partial DNA sequences to bring the species back to life (because clearly they’ve never seen Jurassic Park).

As far as humans, it appears that they settled in the northernmost parts of Russia around 32,500 years ago. Previous research suggests that people began domesticating dogs anywhere between 10,000-40,000 years ago, so this little guy could have been a pet, a protector, a working dog, or a wild wolf species – we just don’t know.

Scientists have called in Dogor, which means “friend” in the local Yakut language.

“This is intriguing, what if it’s a dog? We can’t wait to get results from further tests,” says Sergey Fedorov from the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North.

I’d have to say that’s an understatement, because I don’t think I’ve ever been more curious about an 18,000-year old anything in my entire life.

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