Prehistoric wolf’s gut frozen in time reveals an ice age giant
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- Scientists sequenced the genome of a woolly rhinoceros from 14,000-year-old DNA found in the stomach of a mummified wolf pup preserved in Siberian permafrost, marking the first time an entire genome has been retrieved from an animal's stomach contents.
- The woolly rhino, which lived during the last ice age across northern Eurasia, showed no signs of genetic decline before extinction, indicating a stable population until its sudden disappearance likely caused by rapid climate warming rather than human hunting.
- The wolf pups, initially thought to be early domesticated dogs, were found to have died in a collapsed den, with one pup having recently consumed woolly rhino flesh, providing valuable insight into predator-prey dynamics and the
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