A young canine found in the permafrost
It was during the summer of 2018 that the remains of a young canine was found by ivory hunters in central Siberia. Preserved in the permafrost, this layer of land in the arctic regions which remains permanently frozen, the body of the small animal still had intact fur, nose, whiskers, eyelashes and milk teeth. The young animal that has crossed the ages thus represents a real treasure for paleontologists wishing to learn more about the evolution of canids. It is more precisely the Paleogenetics Center (CPG) of the University of Stockholm and the Swedish Natural History Museum which was responsible for carrying out the investigation from one of the ribs of the animal.
Amazingly preserved puppy with whiskers, eyelashes, hair and velvety nose intact puzzle scientists. DNA tests on the 18,000-year-old Siberian canine cannot define if it's a wolf or a dog https://t.co/MNSInirNui pic.twitter.com/F1bGjGiWQq
- The Siberian Times (@siberian_times) November 25, 2019
And if he's being talked about again today, it's because he was presented on Monday, December 2, 2019 at the Mammoth Museum, in Yakutsk in Central Siberia and leaves scientists quite perplexed
An 18,000-year-old canine
After using radiocarbon dating, researchers at the Swedish Paleogenetics Center have determined that the animal, a male, was about two months old when it died 18,000 years ago , that is, at the end of the last ice age also known as the Upper Pleistocene. This little frozen canine would therefore be the oldest dog ever discovered!
Yes, but it seems that the researchers are not quite sure if it is really a dog
A dog or a wolf?
The Swedish Centre, which has the largest DNA bank in Europe of all canine breeds in the world, carried out a first sequencing of the genome which did not result in any match.
And for good reason, according to Love Dalén, professor of evolutionary genetics interviewed by the Bored Panda website:
It is impossible to separate the wolf and the dog from the Pleistocene era. This specimen is located just at the time of the divergence. It could therefore be a very early modern wolf, a very early dog or a late Pleistocene wolf.
This little wolf-dog could therefore allow scientists to learn more about the periods of divergence of dog and wolf species and dog domestication which are still, for the time being, still very much debated within the scientific community.
In the near future, the analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of the "puppy" should already allow scientists to lift the veil on its species: dog, wolf or an animal halfway between two species.
In the meantime, the little animal has been baptized "Dogor" which means "friend" in the Yakut language and "dog or" in English.