# Genome of a 14,400-year-old woolly rhinoceros from a wolf pup's stomach shows no sign of decline

- Published: 2026-11-08 23:31 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Biology & biochemistry
- Tags: woolly rhinoceros genome, Coelodonta antiquitatis, ancient DNA, wolf pup stomach, Tumat, Bølling-Allerød, inbreeding, genetic load, Late Pleistocene extinction
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-35d712a8fb735bbf85b68f65_genome_of_a/

**Authors sequenced a high-coverage genome from tissue in a permafrost-preserved wolf's stomach: no inbreeding or genomic erosion shortly before extinction.**

![Genome of a 14,400-year-old woolly rhinoceros from a wolf pup's stomach shows no sign of decline](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/d0b9c00935932908.jpg)
*Habervitrini*

A research team has sequenced a high-coverage genome of a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) that lived about 14,400 years ago, according to a paper in Genome Biology and Evolution published on 14 January [1]. The source was muscle tissue from the stomach of a permafrost-preserved wolf pup found in northern Siberia [1]. The species went extinct about 14,000 years ago [1].

## A rhinoceros from a wolf's stomach

The pup was about two months old. Researchers found it near the settlement of Tumat in 2011 and a second pup in 2015, both with skin, fur and teeth still intact. The stomach held the remains of a wagtail, a woolly rhinoceros and arctic grass. The rhinoceros fragment was still covered with yellowish hair.

To avoid contamination with wolf DNA, the team took samples from different parts of the fragment over several months. They cut the dried, hard tissue with a scalpel, sequenced the highest-quality DNA they could extract and merged the results into a whole genome. The analysis showed that the animal was a female.

## Diversity, inbreeding and extinction

The authors compared this genome with two other Late Pleistocene Siberian woolly rhinoceros genomes, from animals about 18,000 and 49,000 years old. The comparison covered genome-wide diversity, inbreeding, genetic load and changes in population size [1]. They found no evidence of population decline and no genomic erosion shortly before the species' demise [1].

The 14,400-year-old genome contains few long homozygous segments, which typically indicate recent inbreeding. From this the authors infer a stable population size only a few centuries before extinction [1]. They conclude that the extinction likely happened rapidly, during the Bølling-Allerød interstadial [1].

The authors say the result lends further support to an abrupt external cause, such as climate change. Climate change, inbreeding and human hunting have all been proposed as explanations for the extinction. The paper does not settle which one was responsible.

The study also shows that high-quality DNA can be recovered from unlikely sources, such as a predator's stomach contents, and used to reconstruct how a species disappeared [1].

## Sources

1. [Genome Biology and Evolution](https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf239)
2. [Habervitrini](https://www.habervitrini.com/haber/14400-yillik-kurt-yavrusunun-midesinden-tuylu-gergedan-cikti-1793722421544)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-35d712a8fb735bbf85b68f65_genome_of_a/