The dire wolf is an extinct canine. The dire wolf lived in the Americas (with a possible single record also known from East Asia) during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs (125,000–9,500 years ago). The species … See more

Ecological factors such as habitat type, climate, prey specialization, and predatory competition have been shown to greatly influence gray wolf craniodental plasticity, which is an … See more

During the Quaternary extinction event around 12,700 YBP, 90 genera of mammals weighing over 44 kilograms (97 lb) became extinct. The extinction of the large carnivores and … See more

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From the 1850s, the fossil remains of extinct large wolves were being found in the United States, and it was not immediately clear that these all belonged to one species. The first specimen of what would later become associated with Aenocyon dirus … See more

The average dire wolf proportions were similar to those of two modern North American wolves: the Yukon wolf (Canis lupus pambasileus) and the Northwestern wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis). The largest northern wolves today have a shoulder height of up … See more

Dire wolf remains have been found across a broad range of habitats including the plains, grasslands, and some forested mountain areas of North America, the arid savannah of South America, and possibly the steppes of eastern Asia. The sites range in elevation … See more