The woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) is a cold-adapted herbivore that went extinct around 14,000 years ago, but little is known about their population decline prior to extinction. In new research, scientists from the Centre for Palaeogenetics and Stockholm University generated a high-coverage genome from one of the last known woolly rhinoceros remains, which was recovered from the stomach contents of a frozen wolf puppy found in the permafrost in Siberia. Combined with two other Late Pleistocene woolly rhinoceros genomes, their results suggest that the population size was stable and there is no genomic signature of recent, rapid population decline close to the species extinction, in contrast to other extinct species and currently endangered species undergoing population decline.
This image depicts a Pleistocene landscape in northern Spain with woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius), equids, a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), and European cave lions (Panthera leo spelaea) with a reindeer carcass. Image credit: Mauricio Antón.
The woolly rhinoceros is a cold-adapted herbivore that first appeared some 350,000 years ago and was widespread across northern Eurasia until its extinction approximately 14,000 years ago.
Its range contracted gradually toward the east from 35,000 years ago, likely due to unfavorable environmental conditions in western Europe.
The species persisted in northeastern Siberia and displayed complex shifts in its range in response to environmental changes until it disappeared from the fossil record.
Previous genomic studies had not detected signs of recent inbreeding in individuals dated to 18,400 and 48,500 years ago, but until now no whole genome had been recovered from a specimen so close to the extinction date.
“Recovering genomes from individuals that lived right before extinction is challenging, but it can provide important clues on what caused the species to disappear, which may also be relevant for the conservation of endangered species today,” said Dr. Camilo Chacón-Duque, corresponding author of the study.
The new woolly rhinoceros genome was sequenced from muscle tissue found inside the stomach of a permafrost-preserved wolf puppy recovered from northeastern Siberia.
Radiocarbon dating shows that both the wolf and the tissue date to approximately 14,400 years ago, making the specimen one of the youngest known woolly rhinoceros remains.
“Sequencing the entire genome of an Ice Age animal found in the stomach of another animal has never been done before,” Dr. Chacón-Duque said.
By comparing the new genome with two previously published Late Pleistocene woolly rhinoceros genomes, the researchers examined genome-wide diversity, inbreeding, genetic load and population size changes close to the species’ extinction.
The results showed few long homozygous segments, typically indicative of recent inbreeding, leading the authors to infer a stable population size only a few centuries before extinction.
“It was really exciting, but also very challenging, to extract a complete genome from such an unusual sample,” said Sólveig Guðjónsdóttir, first author of the study.
The researchers also reconstructed changes in effective population size through time and found no reduction at the onset of the Bølling-Allerød interstadial, a warm period beginning about 14,700 years ago.
Their findings suggest that the woolly rhinoceros’ extinction likely happened rapidly, possibly during the climatic changes of this period, or over a period too short to leave a detectable genomic signature.
“Our analyses showed a surprisingly stable genetic pattern with no change in inbreeding levels through tens of thousands of years prior to the extinction of woolly rhinos,” said Dr. Edana Lord, co-author of the study.
“Our results show that the woolly rhinos had a viable population for 15,000 years after the first humans arrived in northeastern Siberia, which suggests that climate warming rather than human hunting caused the extinction,” added Professor Love Dalén, co-author of the study.
The results appear in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution.
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Sólveig M. Guðjónsdóttir et al. 2026. Genome Shows no Recent Inbreeding in Near-Extinction Woolly Rhinoceros Sample Found in Ancient Wolf’s Stomach. Genome Biology and Evolution 18 (1): evaf239; doi: 10.1093/gbe/evaf239
