Dogor
{{short description|Mummified wolf puppy}}
Dogor is a preserved canine specimen that was found in the Siberian permafrost of Sakha in 2018. It is a remarkably well preserved two-month-old male puppy with fur and whiskers remaining. The animal has been determined to be 18,000 years old. At first, DNA sequencing was unable to identify the animal as either a dog or a wolf. Anders Bergström, a postdoctoral fellow in ancient genomics at the Francis Crick Institute in London, identified Dogor as an ancient wolf as reported in a research study on June 29, 2022 in Nature magazine.{{cite journal |last1=Bergström |first1=Anders |last2=Stanton |first2=David W. G. |last3=Taron |first3=Ulrike H. |last4=Frantz |first4=Laurent |last5=Sinding |first5=Mikkel-Holger S. |last6=Ersmark |first6=Erik |last7=Pfrengle |first7=Saskia |last8=Cassatt-Johnstone |first8=Molly |last9=Lebrasseur |first9=Ophélie |last10=Girdland-Flink |first10=Linus |last11=Fernandes |first11=Daniel M. |last12=Ollivier |first12=Morgane |last13=Speidel |first13=Leo |last14=Gopalakrishnan |first14=Shyam |last15=Westbury |first15=Michael V. |last16=Ramos-Madrigal |first16=Jazmin |last17=Feuerborn |first17=Tatiana R. |last18=Reiter |first18=Ella |last19=Gretzinger |first19=Joscha |last20=Münzel |first20=Susanne C. |last21=Swali |first21=Pooja |last22=Conard |first22=Nicholas J. |last23=Carøe |first23=Christian |last24=Haile |first24=James |last25=Linderholm |first25=Anna |last26=Androsov |first26=Semyon |last27=Barnes |first27=Ian |last28=Baumann |first28=Chris |last29=Benecke |first29=Norbert |last30=Bocherens |first30=Hervé |last31=Brace |first31=Selina |last32=Carden |first32=Ruth F. |last33=Drucker |first33=Dorothée G. |last34=Fedorov |first34=Sergey |last35=Gasparik |first35=Mihály |last36=Germonpré |first36=Mietje |last37=Grigoriev |first37=Semyon |last38=Groves |first38=Pam |last39=Hertwig |first39=Stefan T. |last40=Ivanova |first40=Varvara V. |last41=Janssens |first41=Luc |last42=Jennings |first42=Richard P. |last43=Kasparov |first43=Aleksei K. |last44=Kirillova |first44=Irina V. |last45=Kurmaniyazov |first45=Islam |last46=Kuzmin |first46=Yaroslav V. |last47=Kosintsev |first47=Pavel A. |last48=Lázničková-Galetová |first48=Martina |last49=Leduc |first49=Charlotte |last50=Nikolskiy |first50=Pavel |last51=Nussbaumer |first51=Marc |last52=O’Drisceoil |first52=Cóilín |last53=Orlando |first53=Ludovic |last54=Outram |first54=Alan |last55=Pavlova |first55=Elena Y. |last56=Perri |first56=Angela R. |last57=Pilot |first57=Małgorzata |last58=Pitulko |first58=Vladimir V. |last59=Plotnikov |first59=Valerii V. |last60=Protopopov |first60=Albert V. |last61=Rehazek |first61=André |last62=Sablin |first62=Mikhail |last63=Seguin-Orlando |first63=Andaine |last64=Storå |first64=Jan |last65=Verjux |first65=Christian |last66=Zaibert |first66=Victor F. |last67=Zazula |first67=Grant |last68=Crombé |first68=Philippe |last69=Hansen |first69=Anders J. |last70=Willerslev |first70=Eske |last71=Leonard |first71=Jennifer A. |last72=Götherström |first72=Anders |last73=Pinhasi |first73=Ron |last74=Schuenemann |first74=Verena J. |last75=Hofreiter |first75=Michael |last76=Gilbert |first76=M. Thomas P. |last77=Shapiro |first77=Beth |last78=Larson |first78=Greger |last79=Krause |first79=Johannes |last80=Dalén |first80=Love |last81=Skoglund |first81=Pontus |display-authors=5 |title=Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs |journal=Nature |date=July 2022 |volume=607 |issue=7918 |pages=313–320 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-04824-9 |pmid=35768506 |pmc=9279150 |bibcode=2022Natur.607..313B }} However, the specimen did not belong to the ancient east Eurasian progenitor population of wolves from which dogs are thought to have evolved, suggesting perhaps a dual ancestry for dogs.
The specimen was named Dogor by scientists Mark and Nina Rogerson with the word meaning "friend" (Cyrillic: Догор) in the local Yakut language.
Description
Dogor was found in the permafrost near the Indigirka River, north-east of Yakutsk, Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia during the summer of 2018.{{cite news |title=Amazingly preserved puppy with whiskers, eyelashes, hair and velvety nose intact puzzle scientists |url=https://siberiantimes.com/science/others/news/amazingly-preserved-puppy-with-its-whiskers-eyelashes-hair-and-velvety-nose-intact-puzzle-scientists/ |accessdate=29 November 2019 |work=Siberian Times |date=25 November 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Woodyatt |first1=Amy |title=18,000-year-old frozen puppy leaves scientists baffled |url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/frozen-puppy-intl-scli-scn/index.html |work=CNN Travel |date=27 November 2019 |language=en}} It is the body of a two-month-old male canine puppy.{{cite news |title=Scientists stumped by 18,000-year-old frozen 'dog' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50586508 |accessdate=28 November 2019 |work=BBC News |date=28 November 2019}} The body is remarkably well preserved, and its fur, whiskers, nose and teeth remain intact. A part of its rib bone was analysed by radiocarbon dating, which placed it at 18,000 years old.
Identification
Due to the animal's age, it was possible that it represented an evolutionary link between dogs and wolves. Scientists continue to debate the exact point at which dogs were first domesticated, but if Dogor was determined to be a dog, he would have been the oldest ever discovered.{{cite news |last1=Sparks |first1=Hannah |title=18,000-year-old puppy stumps scientists: Is it a dog or a wolf? |url=https://nypost.com/2019/11/27/18000-year-old-puppy-stumps-scientists-is-it-a-dog-or-a-wolf/ |accessdate=28 November 2019 |work=New York Post |date=27 November 2019 |language=en}} Dogor was, therefore, described as coming from "a very interesting time in terms of wolf and dog evolution", possibly from around the time of the first domestication of dogs.
DNA sequencing is usually sufficient to distinguish between dogs and wolves; however, even after a large amount of analysis, it was not initially possible to determine to which species Dogor belonged. Further DNA sequencing was undertaken in Denmark to provide more insight.{{cite news|title=DNA of pre-historic puppy, found in Yakutia, to be analyzed in Denmark|work=Tass Russian News Agency|url=https://tass.com/science/1211285|date=12 October 2020|accessdate=7 March 2021}} Dogor was eventually identified as an ancient wolf in June 2022.{{cite news|last1=Pappas |first1=Stephanie |title=Mummified puppy that died 18,000 years ago was a wolf |url=https://www.livescience.com/siberian-mummified-wolf-puppy|work=Live Science|date=7 July 2022|language=en}}