Overview

• University of York–led genetic analysis shows the two siblings belonged to an extinct Late Pleistocene wolf population unrelated to modern dogs
• Dental wear and chemical fingerprints indicate the cubs were seven to nine weeks old when a landslide collapsed their den and entombed them
• Gut contents reveal an omnivorous diet of woolly rhinoceros meat, small birds and plant remains from a diverse Ice Age ecosystem
• Evidence of woolly rhinoceros in their last meal suggests Pleistocene wolves hunted larger prey, implying they may have been bigger than today’s wolves
• Despite being found beside human-processed mammoth bones, there is no direct link to humans, leaving the origins of dog domestication unresolved