Editor’s Note: The Associated Press reported Des Moines University reporters and other readers said to ignore the press release about the wolf cub. The following is based on original release reports.
In 2016, Neil Loveless, a prospector, stumbled across a complete wolf mummy while firing a water cannon on a permafrost wall in search of wealth in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
Immediately after its discovery, Loveless placed the mammal in a freezer until paleontologists could view it, National Geographic reports.
In a study recently published by Des Moines University, paleontologists revealed that the well-preserved animal was a juvenile female and a member of a disappeared Pleistocene ecosystem, a time when the animals of northwestern Canada exhibited mastodons and other megafauna. .
(Editor’s note: The Associated Press later reported that Des Moines University said journalists and other readers should ignore the press release – titled “Ancient wolf pup mummy uncovered in Yukon permafrost” – earlier today on Dec. 18, 2020 via GlobeNewswire. It’s unclear. why the press release was ignored.)
The pup was reportedly named Zhùr, which means ‘wolf’ in the Hän language, by the local Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people, USA Today reports.
“The copy has special significance for the local Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people, who have agreed to exhibit Zhùr at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center in Whitehorse,” said a press release, according to USA Today.
Des Moines University posted an image of the mummified pup on Twitter on December 21:
“(Zhùr) is the most complete and oldest wolf mummy ever found,” said Julie Meachen, associate professor of anatomy at Des Moines University. It’s actually very rare to have these types of mummies in North America. They are much more common in Siberia. “
According to National Geographic, Zhùr appears to have died in the collapse of a cave, and the rapid burial facilitated the exceptional preservation of her body. Other mammals of this era, such as Arctic ground squirrels and black-footed ferrets, have also been preserved in the same way. Meachen states that this process is essentially “freeze-dried” the puppy’s body.
An analysis of the pup’s genome revealed that she is a descendant “of ancient wolves from Russia, Siberia and Alaska, who are also the ancestors of modern wolves,” the release said. Studies have also shown that before her untimely death, the pup had recently switched from pecking to more solid foods like fish, according to National Geographic.
Animal behavior during the Pleistocene is still largely a mystery to paleontologists, but discoveries like Zhùr provide important clues and provide researchers with renewed energy.
“I mean when I saw her I was so impressed with how beautifully preserved she is,” said Meachen (via USA Today)