Frozen Secrets Revealed: What 14,000-Year-Old Wolf Puppies Discovered in Siberia Tell Us About the Ancient World
The Discovery Of The Prehistoric Canines Preserved In The Permafrost Of Tumat, Siberia
Sergey Fedorov/Mammoth Museum of North-Eastern Federal UniversityScientists conduct an autopsy of the two wolf cubs.
The pair of young wolf sisters, now determined to have been two months old at the time of their deaths, were unearthed independently of each other in 2011 and 2015. Initially, it was thought that they may have been domesticated dogs.
They were found at the Syalakh site, almost 25 miles away from the closest village in northern Siberia, Tumat.
The pair had been preserved in ice under layers of soil. Along with the wolves, researchers also found woolly mammoth bones that showed signs of being burned and processed by humans.
Sergey Fedorov/Mammoth Museum of North-Eastern Federal UniversityTheir skin and fur was completely intact even after at least 14,000 years.
This led researchers to believe that it was possible that the site was a location where humans butchered woolly mammoths. The remains of these suspected early dogs or tamed wolves indicated a possible domestic bond between canines and prehistoric humans.
However, the pair of canines showed no evidence of having eaten the woolly mammoths, despite being found near that animal’s bones. Researchers then used this information to lead them to the conclusion that the canines were actually wolves and not dogs.
How The Puppies’ Diet Led To The Discovery That They Were Actually Wolves
Wikimedia CommonsThe wolf cubs were determined to be genetically similar, though not identical, to the wolves of today.
A new study from the University of York took a deeper look at the remains of the animals. Specifically, they examined their stomach contents, genetic data, as well as their bones, teeth and tissue.
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