Published 11:01 IST, November 27th 2019
18,000-year-old pup found frozen in Siberia is world's 'oldest confirmed dog'
The puppy, found in north-east Siberia, was 'amazingly well preserved' with a full set of teeth and a fur coat while having few bald patches on the rib-cage.
An 18,000-year-old puppy was found frozen in ice and might be the 'oldest confirmed dog' in history. Scientists, Love Dalen and Dave Staton shared the pictures of the puppy who was found in Siberia back in 2018 and spent nearly more than a year to analyse if the animal found in permafrost was a dog or a wolf. The pair also said that it could be the earliest confirmed dog and the recent discovery could be used to learn more about the time when wolves were domesticated. On November 25, the Centre of Palaerogenetics confirmed that the animal found in 2018 is a male dog, and named him 'Dogor' which is a Yakutian word for 'friend'.
Well preserved pup
The puppy was found 'amazingly well preserved' with a full set of teeth and a fur coat while having few bald patches on the rib-cage. The animal was found in the remote part of north-east Siberia, a few hours away from Belaya Gora and currently resides in Russia while one of his rib cages are being studied by the pair of scientists in Sweden. A professor of evolutionary genetics reportedly said that the discovery is 'pretty special' because holding Dogor makes you feel the animal recently died, however, he has lived with cave lions and mammoths and woolly rhinos. Professor believed that the animal was well preserved even before the scientists cleaned it up. Sergey Fedorov who is with the pup in Russia reportedly said it feels amazing to 'touch and feel the history of the earth'. The people of the internet also called the discovery 'fascinating'.
Updated 11:52 IST, November 27th 2019