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50,000-Year-Old Mummified Remains of Wolf Pup and Caribou Found in Northern Canada

posted by mrpg on Monday September 17 2018, @12:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the glad-to-know-that dept.

takyon writes:

Mummified ice age wolf pup and caribou found in northern Canada

The rare remains of an ice-age wolf pup and a caribou will offer insights about life in Canada's far north more than 50,000 years ago, scientists say. The creatures were discovered with intact hair, skin, and muscle tissue.

They were found in 2016 by miners near Dawson City in Yukon, and handed over to palaeontologists for research and analysis. They are among the oldest mummified mammal soft tissue in the world, palaeontologist Grant Zazula said.

The wolf pup is estimated to have been about eight weeks old when it died. "It's beautiful, the fur, it's got the cute little paws and tail and the curled upper lip showing its teeth. It's spectacular," Mr Zazula told the Canadian Press news agency on Thursday.

Also at CBC and The Guardian.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @12:58AM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @12:58AM (#735798)

    A caribou bit my sister!

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday September 17 2018, @01:01AM (2 children)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Monday September 17 2018, @01:01AM (#735801) Journal

    We can revive it. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic werecaribou. Better, stronger, faster. More aggressive.

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @01:09AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @01:09AM (#735804)

      I raise your threat one Teen Wolf and shake my body rigorously in anticipation of your scientific advancement.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @01:36AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @01:36AM (#735816)

      And tastier. Hmm carribou jerky

  • (Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Monday September 17 2018, @04:35AM

    by suburbanitemediocrity (6844) on Monday September 17 2018, @04:35AM (#735855)

    Caribou bites can be nasty.

  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday September 17 2018, @10:31AM (1 child)

    by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Monday September 17 2018, @10:31AM (#735916) Homepage
    The thing is that we're calling it a wolf, and we know that wolves are quite scary creatures (often having roles as bad guys in fairy tales), yet what we have here is what I would call evidence for domestication - you don't mummify a wild animal, you only mummify something you actually care about - something that belongs to you. I'd like to see some independent dating, because if so, this would be the earliest evidence of the domestication of /Canis/ that I know of.
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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @12:02PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @12:02PM (#735936)

      It seems that was unintentional natural extreme cold mummification.