Frozen in the ice a puppy that is 18 thousand years, may be «the oldest confirmed dog» in history.
Scientists Fishing Dalen, (44) and Dave Stanton (34 years) shared incredible images of the dog, which was discovered in the ice of Siberia in the summer of 2018. A couple from Stockholm, Sweden spent more years, analyzing the animal, but still not 100% sure that this is a young dog, not a young wolf, probably because the animal belonged to the period when dogs were not yet domesticated. If they can establish that it is a dog, the couple says she could be the first confirmed dog in the story, and the discovery can be used to learn more about when they were domesticated wolves.
The dog is «remarkably well preserved» and shows a full set of teeth and fur in addition to a bald area on the edges.
While the animal is called burn out, as in English, this nickname is a pun – a dog or wolf.
Burn down found in a remote part of North-Eastern Siberia in a couple of hours from the nearest city, White Mountain, and at the moment he is in Russia, while Fishing and Dave examine one edge of the animal in Sweden.
Fishing, Professor of evolutionary genetics, says: «This is a special job, because holding her and it seems that the animal died recently. But think about it and realize that it was an animal that lived along with cave lions, mammoths and woolly rhinos. So it’s amazing. It was surprisingly well preserved even before it was cleaned. When we found it we didn’t know how old it was. It was found in the so-called permafrost, but what happens is that it freezes someone the age of several hundred years or even decades. We were excited about this, but pretty skeptical until I found out his age using radiocarbon analysis.»
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
He continues: Obviously, when we got the result that it 18 thousand years, that all changed. It was amazing. 18 thousand years is an interesting time period when we think there was a lot of genetic changes with dogs and wolves. I suggested that we found a wolf. But we recently got the first results of the genome, and we’re not sure, a dog or a wolf. But we have to install. While we can’t separate it from the modern wolf, wolf of the Pleistocene epoch or dog. One reason this may be difficult because it was a time of divergence (the divergence of the characteristics from the original ones of the groups of organisms during evolution). That is, it could be a wolf early period or the early period of dog or wolf of the Pleistocene epoch. If it turns out to be a dog, I’d say it’s the earliest confirmed dog in history.»
His colleague Dave tells me that the dog is in such good condition because it was found in the tunnel that has been done in the permafrost.
He said: «It is rarely possible to obtain well-preserved samples. He was, in fact, frozen 18 thousand years. This is not easy to find, if not look in such a place and, of course, such things do only a few. It’s amazing, when you see the results and there is a chance that you’ve discovered something new. Nice to know you can make a contribution to something that has been the subject of controversy for a long time. Working on something so ancient and well preserved, I’m nervous not to do something wrong in the lab. Don’t want to spoil it. It seems that domesticated dogs are descended from a line of wolves that are extinct. Why is it such a problem, work on understanding where and when was the domesticated dog. If you want to find the answer to this question, you need to study ancient samples, because animals that have been domesticated, no longer live on the planet. Such samples can help to clarify everything, but we still have no results, so we can make any accurate statements.»
Sergei Fedorov (58 years), who is working on the discovery in Russia, added: «It’s a great feeling, to see, to touch, to feel the history of the planet. Just imagine this puppy lay under the earth in the same position and the same as 18 thousand years and he just didn’t care. I very carefully removed the dirt clinging to his body, revealing a beautiful state of the skin, which is incredibly rare for animals of the period. The only part on his body that was open, was on his ribs. We have called the find Agreement is that Yakut is translated as «friend». In addition, it is a pun on English «dog or wolf?»»
