- Oct 17, 2011
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Ice preserved a tiny puppy in near-perfect condition for 18,000 years. Scientists are fascinated.
I realize 18,000-year-old puppy is kinda an oxymoron, but anyway...
Researchers have big outstanding questions about the puppy they have named Dogor — “friend” in a language of the Siberian area where the creature spent 18,000 years in permafrost.
They’re still trying to figure out if the tiny animal is a dog or wolf. They wonder whether he could be part of the evolutionary bridge that turned a fierce wild animal into man’s best friend.
They don’t have to speculate about what Dogor looked like, however, because icy conditions have left him remarkably frozen in time. Scientists can touch his fur, lift his padded paws and pull back his lips to bare small, yellowed teeth.
Testing on a rib bone has revealed the animal’s age: about two months, said Stanton, a postdoctoral scholar who’s been working for over a year on a broader attempt to answer lingering questions about canine history.
For those without WashingtonPost subs - Gizmodo LINK.
I realize 18,000-year-old puppy is kinda an oxymoron, but anyway...
Researchers have big outstanding questions about the puppy they have named Dogor — “friend” in a language of the Siberian area where the creature spent 18,000 years in permafrost.
They’re still trying to figure out if the tiny animal is a dog or wolf. They wonder whether he could be part of the evolutionary bridge that turned a fierce wild animal into man’s best friend.
They don’t have to speculate about what Dogor looked like, however, because icy conditions have left him remarkably frozen in time. Scientists can touch his fur, lift his padded paws and pull back his lips to bare small, yellowed teeth.
Testing on a rib bone has revealed the animal’s age: about two months, said Stanton, a postdoctoral scholar who’s been working for over a year on a broader attempt to answer lingering questions about canine history.
For those without WashingtonPost subs - Gizmodo LINK.