We like you to meet the Varanger Dog except the dog is now quite dead, as in extinct. It lived 5,000 – 7,000 years ago in Lapland, Russia where fossilized remains were found. Depending upon the source, it may or may not have descended from a hypothetical dog species that existed next to the wolf, but what is more certain is that it had a curious dentition: It had one less tooth on either side of its jaw.

There is only one other breed that shares this peculiarity, the Norwegian Lundehund. It is the only other breed that has two less teeth than other breeds, and its AKC breed standard allows for this: “Missing premolars on both sides of the upper and lower jaws are common and allowed.”

It seems hardly fair for one breed to have so many fascinating aspects, but between ears that close both forwards and backwards, its feet, its double-jointed neck, and its resurrection from the figurative ashes, the Lundhund qualifies in our book as one of the ten most interesting breeds on the planet.