How gray wolves survived the last Ice Age mass extinction

[Eldorado]

The last ice age was a bad time for wildlife.

The world froze, ecosystems changed, and humans and animals competed fiercely for available resources. By 11,700 years ago, as the ice age drew to a close, most of the large mammals roaming what is now the Yukon Territory in Canada had gone extinct; the large herbivores first, quickly followed by the large predators that relied on them for their own survival.

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were one of the largest predators to make it through, not just surviving but going on to thrive, their descendants even now skulking through the forests of the Yukon.

New research analyzing their ancient bones may have just revealed how.

Science Alert

[jethrofloyd]