Russian scientists have unveiled a prehistoric puppy, which is believed to be about 18,000 years old, that was found in Siberian permafrost. The baby pup emerged in near-perfect condition, retaining its teeth, nails, eyelashes, whiskers, and plenty of fur, according to news reports.
On December 1, the public got its first look at the well-preserved puppy, which is either a dog or a wolf, at Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk, Russia.
DNA analysis revealed that the pup was a male that died when it was about 2 months old. Scientists estimated that age based on the animal still having its baby teeth. The pup has been named Dogor, which means "friend" in the Yakut language.
DNA testing, however, did not reveal the exact type of animal. Since dogs evolved from wolves tens of thousands of years ago, scientists surmise that the specimen could be one of those animals or a hybrid of both. Researchers will continue to conduct genome sequencing in the hopes of discovering the pup's true identity.
During the summer of 2018, researchers discovered the mummified pup in a lump of frozen mud near the Indigirka River in Yakutia, in the northeastern part of Russia. Yakutsk is considered one of the coldest cities on Earth because it's built entirely on permafrost.
The discovery of this Ice Age pup is no accident, scientists said. Climate change is playing a major role in other recent discoveries of prehistoric animals in the region, including an approximately 40,000-year-old severed head of a wolf that was found in the area in June 2019.
Check out the YouTube video of the puppy below.
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