A 18,000 year old nearly perfectly intact animal found in Siberia could be a distant relative of the dog or the wolf or even the missing link between the two specieis.
The animal is a male and still has its teeth, snout and fur after it was frozen in glacial cold. Russian scientist calculated the date of death using radiocarbon testing.
It took wolves thousands of years to adapt to life with humans, modifying habits, behaviour and morphology.
The puppy was about two months old when it died and has been named Dogor – which means Friend in the local Yakut language.
Detailed DNA tests have so far failed to establish its species.