44,000-year-old mummified wolf discovered well-preserved in Russia

This is one big, bad — and old — wolf.

Researchers are examining a 44,000-year-old mummified wolf in Russia deemed the first predator found from that time period.

“This is the world’s first discovery of a late Pleistocene [time period 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago] predator,” said Albert Protopopov, head of the department for the study of mammoth fauna at the Yakutia Academy of Sciences, according to a report.

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The wolf’s well-preserved carcass was found by chance in thick permafrost in the northeastern Yakutia region by residents in 2021, but scientists only now have had the chance to autopsy the animal.

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“Usually, it’s the herbivorous animals that die, get stuck in swamps, freeze and reach us as a whole,” Protopopov said. “This is the first time when a large carnivore has been found.”

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Researchers from North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Russia performed the autopsy, finding that the wolf’s teeth, much of its fur and some of its organs remained intact.

The team is hoping to learn more about the ancient creature’s genetics, lifestyle, diet and illnesses.

“It’s shocking, actually,” Robert Losey, an anthropologist at the University of Alberta, told Business Insider .

“It’s the only complete adult Pleistocene wolf that’s ever been found, so that in itself is really remarkable and completely unique.”

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