Mummified animals, 50,000 years old, unveiled

DAWSON CITY, YUKON A snapshot of life for an ancient predator and its prey is being put on display, as the mummified ice-age remains of a caribou calf and a wolf pup are unveiled in the Yukon.

Paleontologist Grant Zazula said Thursday the specimens unearthed southeast of Dawson City, Yukon, are among the oldest mummified mammal soft tissue in the world. “Once in a while we find remains of ice-age voles or squirrels, but in terms of something significant and crazy like this, this is very, very rare,” Zazula said.

Both specimens have been radiocarbon dated to a time more than 50,000 years ago, when the northern landscape was an extremely cold, grassy tundra.

Researchers will study the remains to see what they can learn about caribou and wolf ancestors through genetic testing.