18,000-year-old puppy found in Siberia, “oldest dog in history”: scientists
MOSCOW: An international group of scientists have found an “well-preserved” 18-000-year-old puppy in Sibera that sources say could be the oldest dog in history.
The group who published a report with photos, consisted of Swedish and Russian researchers.
They said the discovery was made last summer in the zone of permafrost in Siberia, however, it took some time to figure out the age of the puppy.
The body of the puppy made scientists think it was about 200 years old, but expertise showed it was much older, confirmed reports. The dog was named ‘Dogor’, meaning “dog or wolf.”
We had a healthy dose of skepticism until we radiocarbonated it. When we got the result that it was actually 18,000 years old, that changed everything.
Love Dalen, a professor of evolutionary genetics, said,
“When we got that result it was amazing. 18,000 years ago is an interesting time period where we think a lot of stuff is happening with both wolves and dogs genetically.”
The scientists say that Dogor belongs to the era when people used to domesticate the wolves.
This discovery “might be able to contribute to something that’s been quite a big debate in the field for a long time.”
