The discovery of a well-preserved 44,000-year-old mummified wolf mummy

This is a big, bad, old wolf.

Researchers are examining a 44,000-year-old mummified wolf in Russia, the first known predator found from that time period.

“This is the world’s first discovery of the Late Pleistocene.” [time period 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago] Albert Protopopov, head of the Department of Mammoth Studies at the Yakutia Academy of Sciences, said: According to a report.

The well-preserved carcass of a wolf was found by chance in thick permafrost in the northeastern region of Yakutia by residents in 2021, but scientists have only now had the opportunity to dissect the animal’s carcass.

“Usually, herbivores die, get stuck in swamps, freeze, and reach us as a whole,” Protopopov said. “This is the first time a large carnivore has been found.”

Researchers from the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Russia, conducted an autopsy and found that the wolf’s teeth, much of its fur and some of its organs remained intact.

The team hopes to learn more about this ancient creature’s genetics, lifestyle, diet, and diseases.

“It’s really shocking,” said Robert Lozzi, an anthropologist at the University of Alberta. Business Insider said.

“It’s the only adult wolf from the Pleistocene era that has ever been found, so in itself it’s really cool and quite unique.”