The past can be both shocking and familiar. Over the years, archaeologists have certainly surprised us by pulling things from the ground, giving us a rare conception of the past. Puzzling ancient finds have their unique way of captivating the public. The discovery of two mummified ice age mammals has listed themselves as being in the remarkable ancient treasures. A wolf pup and a caribou calf which were found by gold miners in the Klondike region of Canada in 2016 were unveiled last week at a ceremony in Dawson, Yukon. They are believed to have walked on Earth 50,000 years ago. The pictures are distressing, but one cannot take the eyes off seeing the ice age mammals resting since so many years.

The caribou was found at the site of an 80,000-year-old volcanic ash bed. Experts believe it to be among the oldest mummified mammal tissue in the world, as per the official release. Its head, two front limbs and the upper body were intact. On the other hand, the wolf pup was found with a complete entity. It is quite surprising to see the extremely rare for fur, skin and muscle tissues to be preserved in the fossil record. The wolf pup is preserved in its entirety, including the details of the head, tail, paws, skin and hair.

Here are the pictures shared by the Government of Yukon. 

According to the reports, the wolf pup is believed to have died when it was around eight weeks old. It had been there until it was unearthed in the summer of 2016. A month earlier, gold miners found the dead caribou calf. Palaeontologist Grant Zazula was quoted in the Canadian Press as saying, “To our knowledge, this is the only mummified ice age wolf ever found in the world.” The animals are now on display and will remain under the care of Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation and Government of Yukon.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2018 11:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).