Cubs of probable wolves from the ice era and not dogs, shows the study

A new analysis of the remains of two “puppies” dating over 14,000 years ago has shown that they are most likely wolves, and not linked to domestic dogs, as previously suggested.

Genetic analysis also proved that Cubs were sisters at the age of about two months and, like modern wolves, had a mixed diet of meat and plants. The researchers, however, were surprised to see evidence of a woolly rhinoceros as part of their last meals, as it would have been a great animal for a wolf to hunt.

Research, in collaboration with researchers based in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Russia and Sweden, is published in the journal Quaternary research.

The “tumor puppies” are two remarkably well -preserved loss of puppies found in northern Siberia, about 40 km from Tumat, the nearest village. One was found in 2011 and the other in 2015 on what is now called the Syalk site.

The puppies were discovered in layers of soil, kept in ice, alongside the woolly mammoth bones, some of which have shown signs of having been burned and treated with humans. This led scientists to wonder if the site was once used by humans to massacre mammoths, and if the puppies could have had a link with people, perhaps as early dogs or tamed wolves that dragged around humans for food.

There are no visible injuries or signs of attack on the cubs, and they were therefore likely to have been inside an underground den, resting after their meal, until a potential landslide erases their house, trapping the cubs inside.

A new study, led by the University of York, however shown that, on the basis of genetic data of intestinal content of animals and others “ digital imprints ” found in their bones, their teeth and their tissues, that the way they lived, what they ate and the environment in which they existed, indicates that the puppies being lips and not domestic dogs.

The two already ate solid foods, including woolly rhinoceros meat and, in a case, a small bird called a quilly. However, their body always showed signs of having treated, which means that they probably obtained their mother’s milk too.

Although it was found near the mammoth bones modified by humans, there was no evidence that the cubs consumed a mammoth, but the piece of woolly rhino skin found in the stomach of one of the cubs had not been completely digested, suggesting that they died shortly after their last meal.

It is believed that the woolly rhinoceros were perhaps a young calf, rather than a fully adult adult, and probably chased by the adult pack and fueled with cubs, but even if it was, a young woolly rhinoceros would have been considerably larger than modern prey wolves.

This led researchers to think that these Pleistocene wolves were perhaps a little larger than today’s wolves. The previous DNA tests suggest that the cubs most likely belonged to a wolf population which ultimately disappeared and has not led to today’s domestic dogs.

Anne Kathrine Runge, from the Archeology Department of the University of York, who analyzed the Cubs as part of her doctorate, said: “It was incredible to find two sisters of this time so well preserved, but even more incredible that we can now tell a large part of their history, until the last meal they ate.”

The original hypothesis that Tumat puppies were dogs is also based on their black fur color, which would have been a mutation only present in dogs, but tumat puppies question this hypothesis because they are not linked to modern dogs.

Anne Kathrine added: “Although many are disappointed that these animals are almost certainly wolves and not early domestic dogs, they helped us get closer to the understanding of the environment at the time, how these animals lived and the way in which remarkably similar wolves of more than 14,000 years ago are modern wolves.

“It also means that the mystery of the way dogs have evolved towards the domestic animal that we know today deepens, as one of our clues – the color of black fur – can be a red herring given its presence in the wolfs of a population which is not linked to domestic dogs.”

Tiny remains of fossilized plants have been discovered in the cubs’ stomachs, indicating that they lived in a diversified environment with a variety of plants and animals to consume, including meadow herbs, the leaves of the Sryas shrub genre and willow twigs. This suggests that the landscape they lived in included different types of habitats that could support rich and varied ecosystems.

Dr. Nathan Wales, from the Archeology Department of the University of York, said: “We know that gray wolves have existed as a species for hundreds of years on the basis of skeletal remains of paleontological sites, and researchers have carried out DNA tests of some of these remains to understand how the population has changed over time.

“The soft fabrics preserved in the Tumat puppies give us access to other ways of studying wolves and their scalable line.

“We can see that their diet was varied, composed of both animal meat and plant life, a bit like that of modern wolves, and we also have an overview of their reproductive behavior. The pairs were sisters and were probably raised in a den and neat today, all the common characteristics of farming and the elevation of derogation offers.

“Today, the rails are often larger than two, and it is possible that the tumat puppies have brothers and sisters who have escaped their fate. There may also be more cubs hidden in permafrost or lost against erosion.

“The hunt for an animal as tall as a woolly rhino, even a baby, suggests that these wolves may be larger than wolves that we see today, but always consistent in many ways, because wolves always tend to hunt easy prey while part of the pack is engaged in cub farm.”

Research results, however, mean that the oldest dog hunting – and their place of origin – is still in progress.