14,000-Year-Old "Puppies" Were Wolf Cubs That Ate Woolly Rhino

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Scientists have solved the mystery: these ancient canines were actually wolf cubs, sisters from the same litter.

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What made researchers initially think they were dogs? Their black fur—a trait previously believed to exist only in domesticated canines.

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The most shocking discovery came from their stomach contents: these 2-month-old cubs had dined on woolly rhinoceros for their final meal.

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"It was incredible to find two sisters from this era so well preserved, but even more incredible that we can now tell so much of their story," said researcher Anne Kathrine Runge.

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How did such young cubs hunt such massive prey? They didn't—adult wolves likely hunted a rhino calf and brought it back to feed the young.

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Scientists found no evidence these cubs interacted with humans, despite being discovered near mammoth bones processed by people.

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The cubs likely died when their underground den collapsed, possibly from a landslide, trapping them inside for 14 millennia.

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This discovery "deepens the mystery of how dogs evolved into the domestic pet we know today," as one potential early example has been ruled out.

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The cubs show remarkable similarities to modern wolves in diet and social structure, giving us a rare glimpse into life during the Late Pleistocene.

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