Emily Chan
From the permafrost in Siberia, an ancient mummified wolf was excavated. After scientists completed an analysis of the animal, they discovered that it was more than 44,000-years-old and possibly still had food in its stomach.
The wolf was found by a river in the Republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutia, in 2021. According to a translated statement from the Northeastern Federal University in Yakutsk, where the analysis was performed, it is the first time ever that the complete body of an adult wolf dating to the late Pleistocene period has been unearthed.
The wolf’s mummified body was well preserved due to the permafrost. Permafrost can not only trap carbon and other greenhouse gases, but it can also preserve ancient microbes.
The cold and dry conditions dehydrated its soft tissues, preventing the wolf from decomposing fully. Since live bacteria can survive for thousands of years in fossil finds, the new discovery will help the scientists gain a clearer understanding of what life was like in the area during the last ice age.
Researchers took samples of the predator’s internal organs and gastrointestinal tract in sterile conditions to identify any ancient viruses and microbiota.
“We see that in the finds of fossil animals, living bacteria can survive for thousands of years, which are a kind of witnesses of those ancient times, wrote Artemy Goncharov, one of the researchers on the team and a student of ancient viruses at the Northwestern State Medical University in Russia.
The team also wanted to determine what the animal’s diet was like and compare it with its modern relatives and other ancient wolves from the surrounding region.
Albert Protopopov, the head of the department for the study of mammoth fauna at the Yakutia Academy of Sciences, stated that the wolf’s stomach was preserved without any contamination. So, they will have the opportunity to find out what it ate and even what its victims ate.
The contents of the wolf’s stomach will provide a look into the biota of the ancient Pleistocene. Protopopov added that a tooth examination showed the wolf was a male.
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