Asger Risom
Two well-preserved cubs from Siberia suggest wolves hovered at the edge of early human society—long before dogs were truly born.
The relationship between humans and dogs may feel ancient and instinctive, but its origins are surprisingly difficult to pin down. While archaeological findings place the first clear signs of domesticated dogs around 15,000 years ago, genetic data suggests wolves began diverging from their canine descendants as far back as 30,000 years ago. Somewhere in that gap, early wolves may have taken the first steps toward partnership.
Frozen in Time
In Siberia’s Tumat region, two wolf cubs were uncovered in permafrost—one in 2011 and the other in 2015. Initially thought to be among the earliest known dogs, the siblings were preserved in exceptional condition.
But according to a study published in Quaternary Research, these weren’t proto-dogs after all. Genetic and anatomical analysis confirms they were European gray wolves, roughly two months old when they died, likely due to a landslide.
What stood out was what they had eaten. One cub’s stomach contained remnants of woolly rhinoceros, a massive prey rarely hunted even by adult wolves today.
This has led researchers to believe the cubs scavenged from a young rhino killed by adults in their pack, suggesting a more robust and daring wolf population during the Pleistocene.
Shadows of a Partnership
The cubs were found near woolly mammoth remains that showed evidence of human processing. While no direct link ties the wolves to early humans, researchers believe the animals may have lingered near human settlements, possibly tolerated or even fed. It’s a scenario that hints at the very earliest stages of domestication, as written by Popular Science.
Anne Kathrine Runge, archaeologist at the University of York, called the find “incredible,” highlighting how much scientists could infer about the cubs’ lives, including their final meal. Interestingly, their black fur, a mutation once thought unique to dogs, suggests early wolves already carried genetic traits we now associate with domesticated breeds.
These weren’t pets. But they may have been the first to linger at the edges of our camps, watching, waiting—and slowly becoming something else.