During the process of rinsing out the permafrost, miners to extract gold in the Canadian Yukon discovered the mummy of a 57,000-year-old female wolf, which is in good condition.

And Current Biology reports that scientists rebuilt their lifestyle and it became clear to them that they were feeding on fish and genetically linked to Siberian wolves.

"This is the best wolf mummy that has been found so far, and with the exception of the eyes, it is 100% intact," says Julie Michin, a professor of anatomy at Des Moines University in Iowa, USA. The locals called the mummy "gore".

The first question scientists tried to answer was how the animal ended up in permafrost. "The animal must die in permafrost, to freeze quickly and petrify," says Mitch. "Because if it stays in the tundra for a long time, it will decompose quickly, or become food for other animals. So it's hard to find such a mummy in this area. I think" Gore. "The moment of her death was in her burrow, and her death was rapid as a result of the collapse of the roof."

The results of the study showed that the young wolf was about 7 weeks old and did not die from hunger or disease. Modern methods of analysis also allowed to determine the diet of this wolf, and it turned out that it was feeding on salmon, which is not uncommon for wolves.

Genome analysis confirmed that they are descended from ancient Siberian wolves, which are the ancestors of all wolves in North America. Unfortunately, Mitchinen adds, we do not know anything about her family and what happened to her. And why was she alone in the burrow?

Source: Novosti

By:Nadeemy Haded