Covered in thousands of years of dirt and sediment, the frozen remains of a Pleistocene puppy may just be the key that unlocks a number of historical mysteries about dogs and humans.
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Found in Russia near a site suggesting ancient human activity, this 12,400 year old dog was believed to have been a pet, providing further evidence of a lengthy relationship between dogs and humans.
Although the video above may not make it seem that exciting, those scientists are only exercising the professional chill needed to handle such a delicate subject. In reality, the exam room was probably brimming with excitement. But what’s so special about this pre-historic pup?
The specimen has been so well preserved that the entirety of the dog’s brain remains intact, as well as a number of other organs.
All of this will open a window into the past for scientists who hope to explore it, giving them the opportunity to study ancient parasites and other miscellaneous things from that long gone era. Basically this pup is a frozen time capsule that will deliver loads of information about our ancestors and the ancestors of our dogs. Pretty motherpuppin’ awesome, right!
Even crazier: one of the scientists in the video is Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk, a leading expert in cloning who has long hoped to clone a Wooly Mammoth. His new goal? Cloning our newly discovered Pleistocene pup. Jurassic Bark, here we come.