Friday, April 28, 2023

Remember Balto?

 The most famous sled dog in the world was supposedly a wolfdog.

Now scientists have extracted DNA from his taxidermied remains and established that he had no recent wolf ancestry. A lot of sled dogs just look like they're part wolf.

They did, though, establish that he was healthier than modern dogs and located genes that are associated with improved coordination, healthier joints and thicker skin. I'm particularly interested in the latter; do sled dogs have thicker skin as well as that fur and is that part of how they are so cold tolerant?

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