The loss of ice around the world is leading to new discoveries. For example, climbers who disappeared on Everest dozens of years ago. Their bodies are turning up under the ice. One new find is the 44,000-year-old wolf mummy that appeared under the permafrost.
A team of scientists from the North-Eastern Federal University in the Russian city of Yakutsk performed an autopsy on the wolf, which is believed to have lived about 44,000 years ago. According to the researchers, this is the first discovery of a well-preserved whole body of an adult predator from the late Pleistocene.
In the permafrost
Researchers studied the wolf mummy in the Mammoth Museum’s laboratory. They took samples of the animal’s internal organs. They then removed the contents of its stomach and intestines to analyze its diet and microbiota. In addition, the paleontologists removed some of the prehistoric wolf’s soft tissues. They hope to study the DNA and compare it to the genome of modern wolves.
The autopsy results were published on the university’s website. The wolf was discovered by local residents in 2021 in the Tirekhtyakh River, 40 meters deep, in the deep permafrost. After the discovery, it was transferred to the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Yakutia.
Microbes
In addition, the scientists extracted a premolar tooth. This is necessary to determine the biological age of the wolf at the time of its death. Among other details, they analyzed the wear of the teeth and the development of the sagittal crest. With this data, the paleontologists provisionally determined that it was an adult male.
The 44,000-year-old wolf mummy is a learning opportunity. Paleontologists hope the results of the study will help them better understand what ancient mammals were like. It will give them clues about the microbes that lived in their bodies, what functions they performed, and how harmful they were to predators.
