Michil YAKOVLEV / NEFU Newsroom

On March 16, scientists have performed an autopsy of a 12,400-year-old ancient dog at NEFU Medical Institute (MI). The dog was found in the same site of ​​Ust-Yansky district, where Tumat dog was found in 2011.

The estimated age of the discovery is about 12,450 years old. During autopsy, tissue samples were selected for microbiological, parasitological and other analyzes.

"We found this puppy in the same place where the first dog was found. It was lying on two and a half meters below. The tomography showed the presence of well-preserved brain. According to the method, formalin was introduced into the skull to fix it. Further, we hope to extract it", said Sergey Fedorov, head of the exhibition department of NEFU Mammoth Museum, Institute of Applied Ecology of the North.

"We came to the conclusion that the discovery is well preserved. Normally brain tissue dries quickly, but it lost about 30% and the rest was preserved. I was very surprised", said Darima Garmaeva, Professor of NEFU MI Department of General and Pathological Anatomy, Operative Surgery with Topographic Anatomy and Forensic Medicine.

An autopsy was carried out with the participation of representatives of North-Eastern Federal University, Northwestern State Medical University, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Geological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences.