Giant Pleistocene Wolf discovered in Yakutia, Russia

[Beringia]

https://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/still-snarling-after-40000-years-a-giant-pleistocene-wolf-discovered-in-yakutia/





The severed head of the world’s first full-sized Pleistocene wolf was unearthed in the Abyisky district in the north of Yakutia. Local man Pavel Efimov found it in summer 2018 on shore of the Tirekhtyakh River, tributary of Indigirka. The wolf, whose rich mammoth-like fur and impressive fangs are still intact, was fully grown and aged from two to four years old when it died. The head was dated older than 40,000 years by Japanese scientists. Scientists at the Swedish Museum of Natural History will examine the Pleistocene predator’s DNA.

‘This is a unique discovery of the first ever remains of a fully grown Pleistocene wolf with its tissue preserved. We will be comparing it to modern-day wolves to understand how the species has evolved and to reconstruct its appearance,’ said an excited Albert Protopopov, from the Republic of Sakha Academy of Sciences. The Pleistocene wolf’s head is 40cm long, so half of the whole body length of a modern wolf which varies from 66 to 86cm.


(The comments are funny, some American creationists saying it is fake, and others pointing out this shows climate warming melting of the permafrost).


More:

Dr Protopopov said: ’Answering the questions from The Siberian Times readers, yes it is definitely a wolf. ‘Maybe the hair colouring makes people think it is a bear, but actually it is quite strange to hear, as morphologically this is a very typical wolf. 'Yet when we made CTA scans of the wolf, we found out that there are some peculiarities. ‘Some parts of the skull are more developed than in modern wolves. ‘I cannot say more for now, as this is the subject of our current study.

https://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/first-video-of-ancient-bear-like-wolf-preserved-in-the-permafrost-for-more-than-40000-years/

[Bayard]

1. Still Snarling After 40,000 Years

I like the title of the article.

It's simply astounding that the fur of this big guy, and the lion cub found with it, is so well preserved. Wonder where the rest of his body went?

Thanks for posting!