Wolf’s dinner preserved in Siberia for 14,400 years sheds light on woolly rhino
Decoded genome of meat in pup’s stomach helps scientists build picture of what caused extinction of species
TL;DR
- A woolly rhinoceros genome was sequenced from partially digested meat found in a 14,400-year-old wolf cub's stomach.
- The DNA analysis revealed that the woolly rhino population was stable and genetically diverse until its rapid extinction.
- This contradicts the expectation of genomic erosion in a species nearing extinction.
- Researchers believe a rapid warming event during the last ice age, not hunting, was the primary cause of the woolly rhino's demise.
- The woolly rhinoceros survived for 15,000 years after humans arrived in the region.