Scientists in Sweden have just published a study showing untrained wolf pups can fetch a ball, like a domesticated dog.

This is the first evidence, reported Thursday in iScience, of this kind of responsiveness in untrained wolves, Dr. Hansen Wheat said. “To my knowledge, nobody has tested play behavior in wolves before,” she said.

Fascinating. Of course, it’s also possible that some scientists have attempted to test play behavior in wolves before, and they didn’t make it out alive.