Wolves frozen for 44,000 years with their teeth intact

Experts said the adult male wolf found in Yakutia, eastern Russia, had intact fur, bones, internal organs and teeth. The wolf carcass was transferred to the Mammoth Museum Laboratory of the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk for examination. Mail reported on June 21.

Permafrost is soil that stays frozen all year round, even during the summer months, and can stay that way for thousands of years. The remains of ancient creatures in the permafrost are among the most complete ever unearthed because ice prevents organic matter from decomposing.

The wolf was discovered by locals in 2021 at a depth of about 40 meters by the Tirekhtyakh River in the Abyi district of Yakutia, Russia’s coldest region. Experts said this is the oldest wolf carcass they have ever examined, and its stomach even still exists.

According to Dr. Albert Protopopov, head of the Animal Research Department of the Yakutia Academy of Sciences, the wolf’s stomach remained separate and uninfected. The research team hopes the autopsy results will help them obtain a direct slice of Pleistocene organisms. “This is a large and active predator. We will have the opportunity to find out what it ate. In addition, its stomach also contains prey food,” Protopopov shared.

Dr. Maxim Cheprasov, head of the Mammoth Museum Laboratory, said he and his colleagues extracted a tooth to determine the wolf’s biological age. However, based on the wear of the teeth and the development of the midline crest, they were certain this was an adult male wolf.

Professor Artemy Goncharov, director of the Proteome and Genome Laboratory at the Institute of Experimental Medicine, said that studying wolf carcasses could bring many benefits. “We found that living bacteria can exist in animal fossils for millennia, acting as witnesses to ancient times. We hope our results will help increase understanding of the populations ancient bacteria, their functions and possible applications in modern medicine and biotechnology,” Goncharov said.