18,000 year old puppy's frozen body found in Siberia

Image: Sergey Fedorov, The Siberian Times

The find is quite remarkable. The remains of the dog - or wolf - puppy is so well preserved that it almost looks like you can still see the animal's eyes. The nose is definitely there, and the fur looks better than the coat you see on some dogs running around at present. This is not the only find of this nature - but it may be the best preserved.

Genetic testing conducted in Sweden has failed to definitively state whether the animal was a wolf or a dog. That is, admittedly, not an easy distinction. I suspect there will be plenty of analysis in the coming months and years because genetic material this well preserved will be a gold mine for genetic-level evolution analysis. 18,000 years may be an eternity on our everyday scale but is a fairly short period from an evolutionary perspective, at least when it comes to complex organisms. However, it is a period long enough for some evolutionary changes to occur and that will likely become the focus of genetic research of this animal's tissues.

Bacteria and parasites found on frozen animal carcasses are also a goldmine of information. These parasites (mites, fleas, tics) mutate at a much faster rate and these finds may provide a window into their evolutionary development.

The find may also be a case study in tissue preservation - accidental as it happened to be. But I for one would definitely like to know what sequence of events allowed this puppy to stay so well preserved over such a long time period.

This find is certainly a "the old meets the new" kind of event as even 50 years ago analytical tools we would have had to study it were incomparably weaker than what we have now. If properly studied, this find and others like it can qualitatively improve our understanding of evolution, metabolism, effects of freezing, cellular dynamics and potentially so much more.

Sources

Frozen ‘puppy’ with whiskers and velvety nose still intact found in Siberia 18,000 years after it died
Will Stewart, The Sun, 25 November 2019

Amazingly preserved puppy with whiskers, eyelashes, hair and velvety nose intact puzzle scientists
Anna Lisowska, Svetlana Skarbo, The Siberian Times, 25 November 2019

Ancient puppy's brain is 'well preserved'... as dog bares its teeth after 12,400 years
Anna Liesowska, The Siberian Times, 16 March 2018