Incredible find that defies time! Scientists unveil an 18,000-year-old puppy, perfectly preserved and frozen in Russia, as if it had slept yesterday!

Scientists discover perfectly preserved frozen 18,000-year-old puppy in Russia

An ancient dog that lived 18,000 years ago has been discovered in Russia’s Far East. It was found last year in a frozen mudhole near the Siberian town of Yakutsk and has been affectionately named “Dogor”.

Researchers carefully cleaned the specimen and revealed that it was still largely covered in hair.

The most amazing thing is that he is exceptionally well, with his coat, skin, whiskers and eyelashes intact. To the casual observer he might look like an old sleeping dog!

The Russian Wolfdog, also known as the Borzoi breed, is a special dog of tremendous speed, known for its rather remote appearance, associated with Russia.

A quick internet search revealed that in Russia other dogs were mixed with wolves and hundreds of gigantic dogs were domesticated by patient owners. The owners insist that these dogs are half wolf; whether they have been genetically proven to be so is another question.

That’s what scientists believe they have found buried deep in the ice in far eastern Siberia: a nearly perfectly preserved specimen that even retains its fur.

Experts have not yet determined whether the animal is a dog or a wolf, but that puzzle, they say, is half the fun of the search. One thing is certain: It looks like a puppy and may be an evolutionary cross between a wolf and a dog.

The prehistoric pup’s teeth, nose and fur are all incredibly intact.

A piece of the puppy’s bone was immediately sent to the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm to determine exactly what the scientists were looking for.

They have determined that the animal is 18,000 years old and is perfectly preserved, thanks to the ice in which it was buried.

The puppy still has his whiskers, eyelashes and nose intact.

“We’ve generated a nearly complete genome sequence, and normally when you have a double-coated genome, which we have, you should be able to tell relatively easily whether it’s a dog or a wolf, but we can’t yet, which makes it even more interesting,” said Love Dalen, a professor of evolutionary genetics at the center.

Whatever the animal’s true origin, the remains now have a name that applies in both cases: Dogor, which in Yakutian means friend.

Dogor’s remains are now kept in a private facility, the Museum of the Northern World. Museum director Nikolai Androsov said at Dogor’s presentation to the media, “This puppy has all his limbs… even whiskers.

“You can see the nose and teeth. Thanks to some data we can determine that it is a male,” he said during the presentation of Dogor at the famous Yakutsk Mammoth Museum, which specializes in ancient remains and specimens.

It is currently unknown how this prehistoric pup died, although scientists know it was just eight weeks old. Researchers will no doubt continue to conduct tests to learn as much as they can about this fascinating creature.

Russia’s Far East has provided many incredible finds and animal remains for scientists studying ancient animals in recent years.

Buried deep in the Siberian permafrost, remains of woolly mammoths, canids and other prehistoric animals are discovered every time the ice melts. Mammoth tusk hunters are often the ones to discover them.

Who knows? One day, Dogor the prehistoric pup might become part of a Russian children’s tale or the basis of a movie. He’s already joined other famous furry canines that have garnered attention around the world.