Officials in Canada of late announced that gold miners in Yukon territory unearth a mummified wolf pup and caribou calf , both of which tramp the continent during the Ice Age , CBC Newsreports . The specimen were found keep in permafrost in Dawson City in 2016 , and researchers used carbon dating to determine that the creature are more than 50,000 years old .
While fossil from this period of time often turn up in the Yukon , fully entire carcasses are a lot rare , Yukon administration paleontologist Grant Zazula tell CBC News . “ To our knowledge , this is the only mummified Ice Age savage ever found in the world , ” Zazula said .
The caribou calf carcase — which includes the header , torso , and front limb — still has its peel , muscle , and hair intact . It was constitute in an arena that hold in 80,000 - year - old volcanic ash tree . Observed in a alike consideration , the wolf pup still has its headway , tail , paws , skin , and pilus .
These findings also hold special meaning for the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation , an autochthonous grouping in the Yukon . “ The reindeer has fed and fit out our people for thousands of years , ” Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Chief Roberta Joseph say in astatement . “ The wolf keep counterbalance within the natural world , keeping the caribou healthy . These were an awesome find , and it ’s a great chance to work collaboratively with the Government of Yukon and our community partner . ”
The Canadian Conservation Institute will be task with uphold the brute specimen , and the findings will be displayed in Dawson City until the end of the calendar month . They will later be sum to an exhibit at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre in Whitehorse .
[ h / tCBC ]
