The mummy of a female wolf puppy, perfectly preserved as it remained locked in permafrost for 57,000 years, finally reveals some of its mysteries, including as who died the gray wolf and how he ended up alone in the ice so long ago.
The mummified gray wolf (Canis lupus) was discovered by a gold miner digging climate in Yukon, Canada, in July 2016, in the Klondike gold fields near Dawson City.
“It is the most complete wolf sample ever found since the ice age,” said lead author Julie Meachen, associate professor of Anatomy at Des Moines University in Iowa.
“All the soft stuff, hair, skin, even her little nose is still there. She’s just perfect. And that’s very rare.”
Several types of analysis – including radiocarbon dating, DNA sampling and measurement of levels of different versions, or isotopes, of oxygen – confirmed when the pup died.
X-rays of the skeleton and teeth also revealed that Zhùr (meaning “wolf” in the Hän language of the local people Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in) was only 7 weeks old when she met her her incomparable end.
X-ray images of the wolf cub. (Yukon Government)
Old times past
As well as being the most complete wolf ever found, the Zhur mummy was particularly important to researchers as it was found in North America.
“These types of samples may be very common in Siberia, but they are much harder to get to,” than what is left in the Yukon, Meachen told Live Science.
So what was left was much easier to get in and explore, and they also provided a rare opportunity to see where the North American wolves came from, she said.
Meachen and colleagues reconstructed the Zhur mitochondrial genome – the genome found in energy-producing structures of cells called mitochondria that pass along the maternal line – looking for things resembling Beringian wolves , an extinct group living in ancient Yukon and Alaska, and gray Russian wolves. The puppy’s relationship with individuals from both North America and Eurasia is a testament to an ancient continental mix over the Bering Land Bridge, an ancient land bridge that once connected Alaska and Russia, the researchers said.
Having a sample as complete as a survey allowed the researchers to look at what ice-age wolves were eating.
“Looking at the X-rays and seeing her intestines gave me a bit of a pleasure,” said Meachen. “I’ve never seen a 57,000-year-old gut.”
Although in the end, bone analysis, not the contents of her stomach, allowed the Zhúr diet team to reconstruct.
Close-up of wolf’s pup (Governme. Of Yukon)
During its short life, Zhur found mostly aquatic food, such as Chinook salmon currently spawning in the Klondike River, they discovered. This is not uncommon in today’s wolves, which have been shown to switch seasonally to a water diet in Alaska.
However, scientists had speculated that Yukon wolves would normally have eaten bison or musk stags during the ice age.
Lone wolf
One of the biggest mysteries left around Zhùr is how she was embalmed and why she ended up on her own. The investigators believe she was killed when her hide fell on top of her.
This would explain why the remains are so perfectly preserved, as they would be instantly absorbed in a cold, dry and airy environment.
But if she died this way it begs the question – where was the rest of her family? Given her age, it seems she would never have been in the cellar without her mother or sisters.
“Their mother and sisters may have been outside the hide when it fell and that ‘s why Zhúr was left alone inside the hide,” Meachen said.
“It is possible that she was the same pup, but that would be rare, wolves usually have several pups at the same time,” she explained, but in the end she admits, ” It’s impossible to say for sure. “
Results like this one could become more common, as the globe warms and once a severe freeze thaws begin to melt and disperse buried mysteries.
“We’re always excited when we make discoveries like this,” Meachen said, “but it’s a sign that the world is warming and that’s not good for our environment. The planet is hurt. “
The new study was published December 21 in the journal Conventional biology.
This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.