A 40,000-year-old severed wolf’s head, preserved by permafrost intact with teeth and fur, has been discovered in eastern Siberia. Locals looking for mammoth ivory found the remains on the banks of the Indigirka River in Yakutia, before bringing it to the mammoth studies department at the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha.

Albert Protopopov, director of the department, said that while frozen wolf cubs had been unearthed in the past, the discovery of an adult wolf’s head was novel.

After the experts studied the discovery, it turned out that the hair on the wolf’s head resembles the mammoth cover. According to researchers, the animal has had time to grow up: the age of the beast is estimated from about two to four years, and his brain is undamaged, which will allow to continue the research.The discovery was made in 2018, but the study was carried out only now, with the relevant presentation of the findings.

These are the first remains of an adult (2-4) wolf of the Pleistocene era, found in excellent condition. Now, scientists from the Swedish Museum of Natural History will examine the DNA of the head and compare genetic information with data from modern wolves.

The Yakut wolf’s head had already made a sensation exhibited in Tokyo as part of an exposition dedicated to woolly mammoths and other creatures whose remains were found in permafrost.