Dogor
Dogor is a preserved canine specimen that was found in the Siberian permafrost of Sakha in 2018. It is a remarkably well preserved two-month-old male puppy with fur and whiskers remaining. The animal has been determined to be 18,000 years old. At first, DNA sequencing was unable to identify the animal as either a dog or a wolf. Anders Bergström, a postdoctoral fellow in ancient genomics at the Francis Crick Institute in London, identified Dogor as an ancient wolf as reported in a research study on June 29, 2022 in Nature magazine.[1] However, the specimen did not belong to the ancient east Eurasian progenitor population of wolves from which dogs are thought to have evolved, suggesting perhaps a dual ancestry for dogs.
The specimen was named Dogor by scientists, with the word meaning "friend" (Cyrillic: Догор) in the local Yakut language.
Description
Dogor was found in the permafrost near the Indigirka River, north-east of Yakutsk, Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia during summer 2018.[2][3] It is the body of a two-month-old male canine puppy.[4] The body is remarkably well preserved, and its fur, whiskers, nose and teeth remain intact.[4][5] A part of its rib bone was analysed by radiocarbon dating, which placed it at 18,000 years old.[5]
Identification
Due to the animal's age, it was possible that it represented an evolutionary link between dogs and wolves.[4] Scientists continue to debate the exact point at which dogs were first domesticated, but if Dogor was determined to be a dog, he would have been the oldest ever discovered.[4][5] Dogor was, therefore, described as coming from "a very interesting time in terms of wolf and dog evolution", possibly from around the time of the first domestication of dogs.[3]
DNA sequencing is usually sufficient to distinguish between dogs and wolves; however, even after a large amount of analysis, it was not initially possible to determine to which species Dogor belonged.[3] It was possible that Dogor represented a common ancestor of both species.[4] Further DNA sequencing was undertaken in Denmark to provide more insight.[4][6] Dogor was eventually identified as an ancient wolf in June 2022.[7][8]
References
- ^ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04824-9?CJEVENT=1252d3cc6dbd11ed828305800a1cb82b
- ^ "Amazingly preserved puppy with whiskers, eyelashes, hair and velvety nose intact puzzle scientists". Siberian Times. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ a b c Woodyatt, Amy (27 November 2019). "18,000-year-old frozen puppy leaves scientists baffled". CNN Travel.
- ^ a b c d e f "Scientists stumped by 18,000-year-old frozen 'dog'". BBC News. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ^ a b c Sparks, Hannah (27 November 2019). "18,000-year-old puppy stumps scientists: Is it a dog or a wolf?". New York Post. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ^ "DNA of pre-historic puppy, found in Yakutia, to be analyzed in Denmark". Tass Russian News Agency. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ Pappas, Stephanie (7 July 2022). "Mummified puppy that died 18,000 years ago was a wolf". Live Science.
- ^ Bergström, Anders (29 June 2022). "Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs". Nature.