Scientists in Siberia, Russia, have uncovered the remains of a “lost puppy” that might be one of the first dogs ever.
Researchers have come across what appears to be the remains of a canine with thick hair and sharp teeth around 18,000 years old.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES AHEAD
While the DNA tests are still underway to determine its exact species, the animal is believed to be the first-ever found well-preserved example of the transition from wolves to dogs.
The canine was discovered in the permafrost near the Indigirka River close to Yakutsk, the coldest city in the world.
While the scientists haven’t been able to uncover the cause of death, they believe that the beast wasn’t attacked when it passed away.
To find out whether the remains belong to a wolf or a dog, or something in between, Russian researchers have sent samples of the DNA to the Swedish Centre for Paleogenetic.
“The center has the Europe’s largest DNA bank of all canines from around the globe, yet in this case they could not identify it from the first try,” Dr. Sergey Fedorov said.
“This is intriguing. What if it’s a dog? We can’t wait to get results from further tests.”
As the Swedish researchers reassured in their social media post, the remains of the canine really are around 18,000 years old.
“So far, we have sequenced it’s genome to 2X coverage but we still can’t say if it’s a wolf or a dog. Maybe it’s the common ancestor? More sequencing needed,” they suggested in a tweet.
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