44,000-Year-Old Wolf Frozen in Permafrost May Still Contain Living Bacteria

A prehistoric wolf that was frozen like a popsicle for more than 44,000 years has undergone an autopsy in Russia that is expected to reveal all information about its life as an apex predator during the Ice Age.

The wolf was discovered in 2021 under approximately 40 meters (131 ft) of permafrost on the Tirekhtyakh River in the Abyysky District in Russia’s Far East.

His body was taken to the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and has since undergone an autopsy by scientists from the Mammoth Museum of North-Eastern Federal University and the European University in St. Petersburg.

Under sterile conditions, the team cut open the carcass and took samples of internal organs and gastrointestinal contents. By looking at the bacteria in its insides, one could learn more about a wolf’s diet and health.

“His stomach has been preserved in an isolated form, there are no contaminants in it, so the task is not trivial. As a result of the preparations, we hope to obtain a snapshot of the fauna and flora of the ancient Pleistocene. It was an active and large predator, we have the opportunity to find out what it ate. In addition, the items that his victims consumed also ended up in his stomach,” Albert Protopopov, head of the mammoth fauna research department of the Yakutia Academy of Sciences, said in a statement.

“Additionally, in order to determine the biological age of the find, we selected one premolar. Judging by the wear of the teeth and the development of the sagittal ridge, we can say that it is an adult male,” added Maksym Cheprasov, head of the laboratory at the Mammoth Museum of the Northeastern Federal University.

Scientists hope that some of the microorganisms that inhabit the animal’s insides may even still be alive, suspended in a hibernation-like state for thousands of years at sub-zero temperatures. If they survive, there is a chance they could even be used in modern biomedicine.

“Our scientific cooperation with the NEFU Mammoth Museum allowed us to learn more about the bacteria inhabiting the mammoth steppe since the Pleistocene period. We see that living bacteria can survive in animal fossil finds for thousands of years, which is a kind of witness of those times,” noted Artemy Goncharov, professor at the Department of Epidemiology, Parasitology and Disinfection of the Northwest State Medical University.

“We hope for good results that will allow us to go a little further in understanding what ancient microbial communities were, what their function was and to what extent dangerous pathogenic bacteria were represented in their structure. Perhaps microorganisms will be discovered that can be used in medicine and biotechnology as promising producers of biologically active substances,” Goncharov added.

This is not the only exciting specimen in the possession of the North-Eastern Federal University; They also recently acquired another frozen wolf found in the Nizhnekolimsk area of ​​Yakutia, Siberia, and plan to begin studying it once they complete research on the current carcass.

This part of the world is home to permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of soil beneath the Earth’s upper surface that provides an ideal material for storing and preserving living Ice Age specimens. A diverse menagerie of ancient animals was recently discovered in this desperately cold patch of Siberia, including a 49,000-year-old bird and a beautifully preserved puppy named “Dogor.”