A mummified Pleistocene gray wolf pup

Here we describe the oldest, most complete wolf pup mummy discovered to date: “Zhùr”, as she was named by the local indigenous Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in community was discovered in 2016 in Yukon, Canada, and is complete with skin, fur, and other soft tissues. We infer that Zhùr died ~57,000 years ago and was ~7 weeks old at death. Her mitochondrial genome falls within a clade comprising ancient Beringian and Russian wolf mitochondrial genomes, and isotopic analyses show her diet was composed of mostly aquatic resources. Although mummies like Zhùr will, unfortunately, become more common as the permafrost thaws, their analysis can provide unprecedented insights into extinct ecosystems.

Methods
This dataset was collected from a wolf pup mummy that was found in Yukon, Canada. Morphological data, ancient DNA, radiometric dating, and stable isotope analysis were performed on this specimen. The specimen is reposited at the Yukon Beringian Interpretive Center.