Scientists examined the findings of a pack of wild dogs running in the mountains of Papua, Indonesia.
They were also surprised because this breed of dog was thought to have been extinct since 50 years ago.
This dog is known as the ‘singing dog’ because of its unique howling sound that is similar to the song of a whale since it was first studied in 1897.
In 2016, a team of scientists launched an expedition in the highlands of Papua.
The team also found a population of ancestral dogs that still roam the Indonesian province.
According to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) on August 31, 2020, scientists were able to track down a herd of upland wild dogs living near the Freeport Company’s mine in Papua.
They also studied carefully the animal’s canines.
From the research, the researchers also managed to collect fecal samples and photographs of the wild highland dogs.
The samples and photos are indeed very similar to the extinct singing dog breed.
Yet apart from being extinct, this breed of dog has lost its genetic diversity.
Heidi Parker, a staff scientist at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), who led the analysis of genetic sequences between the two races, also found striking similarities.
