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Scientists Are Confused Whether This 18,000-Year-Old Frozen Animal is Dog or Wolf

This 18000-years-old dog is so perfectly preserved that his body hair, fur, eyelashes, nose are in good condition- it looks like he is so fresh.

A small canine was recently discovered in Siberia’s ice – almost perfectly preserved beneath the frosty surface. Eyes closed, chin resting gently on the surface in front of him, with slightly outstretched paws, this pint-size animal you might think was only sleeping until the scientists discovered that it is 18,000-year-old frozen animal. According to the Science Alert, the tiny canine must have died 18,000-years-ago, at the tender age of just two months old.

Unearthed and frozen, he’s so perfectly preserved that his body hair, fur, eyelashes, nose are in good condition- it looks like he is so fresh. In the pictures shared by Centre for Palaeogenetics, part of his rib cage and spine of the animal is exposed, and the cause of death is yet to be determined, but from the position of the dog found, it was not in any distress.

During the process of findings and research by scientists, they have to answer one very important question: Is it a dog or a wolf? Normally it’s as easy as a simple DNA test since scientists have a pretty good handle on the genetic makeup of domestic dogs compared to wolves. It’s believed to be around 18,000 years old, and it was only a puppy when it died.

Take a look at the pictures:

The report further added that the puppy has been named Dogor, which in the local Yakut dialect means a friend. The name also expresses the uncertainty of whether it is a Dog or something else. On the 25th of November, the Swedish Centre for Palaeogenetics announced on their Twitter account: “Genome analyses show it’s a male. So we asked our Russian colleagues to name it… Thus, the name of the puppy is Dogor! Dogor is a Yakutian word for “friend”, which seems very suitable.”

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