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40,000 yr old Dire wolf head found, still furry!

Updated: Feb 12, 2020


A Super interesting story I came across some time ago was that of a severed ancient wolf head found in Siberia. Locals looking for mammoth ivory found the remains on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh River in, Yakutia, before bringing it to the mammoth studies department at the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha.


Albert Protopopov, leader of the department said that "This is the first time the head of an ancient wolf has been found whose soft tissue has been preserved after 40,000 years, a grown wolf"


around the same area a perfectly preserved cave lion cub was found. Scientists are still working on mapping out both internally, using different medical devices. The lack of decay is astounding. matted fur, teeth, blood, and other soft material is still intact. Scientists still have little concrete evidence as to how this happens. A flash freeze for some reason is to be expected.


Given the additional find of the lion cub, but no body to attach to the wolf's head, I think it is likely the wolf lost a fight. It is possible the wolf was meant as a meal for the family of cave lions, which are known to be slightly larger than these wolves. That is just a theory of mine.


Predators are not the only things being found however. With the earth being in a warming period, the thawing permafrost continues to yield great discoveries. Earlier this year, scientists announced the discovery of liquid blood and urine within the frozen remains of a 42,000-year-old foal, also preserved in permafrost. Scientists hope to clone the extremely well preserved foal in the near future.


of course, with this situation not all things revealed are so amazing. In 2016, Russian scientists said an outbreak of anthrax in western Siberia was due to the thawing carcass of an infected reindeer that died 75 years ago. So while the earth continues to warm, it is unclear what we may find. This may yield more animals, maybe even structures and artifacts eventually. I guess we will see eventually.

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