The Dire Wolf Rises Again!
- Notes From The Frontier
- 18 minutes ago
- 2 min read
After being extinct since the Ice Age around 10,000 years ago, the dire wolf, the largest canine ever to roam the planet, has been revived through the miracle of DNA.
The dire wolf has long been in a fascination in modern literature and cinema, Games of Thrones, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Dire Wolf. The Grateful Dead even had a song about the dire wolf!
The dire wolf was brought back by a U.S. biotechnology company called Colossal Biosciences, using DNA recovered from dire wolf excavated bones spliced with gray wolf DNA, its closest living relative.
The dire wolf roamed North America up to around 10,000 years ago with saber-tooth tigers and woolly mammoths.
They hunted humans and humans hunted them. In fact human hunting may have contributed to their extinction. But there are many theories, none completely proven yet.
The dire wolf was the largest canine ever in the animal kingdom, averaging about 150 pounds but could get up to around 250 pounds. It competed with the saber-tooth tiger for prey. The gray wolf is its closest living relative.
The dire wolf's head was much larger than a gray wolf's and its jaw's crushing power was nearly 50% greater than a gray wolf's.
The La Brea Tar Pits in California near Los Angeles is one of the excavation sites that was uncovered the most dire wolf skeletons. More than 3,600 individual dire wolves had been recovered, including 400 skulls. Above is the iconic La Brea Tar Pits installation of the dire wolf.
Scientists warn that bringing back the dire wolf may have unintended consequences. And already websites are popping up everywhere on the internet advertising dire wolf pups to come. Because, like most human endeavors, the insidious human impulse to make a buck is never far behind... Maybe the lore of the great dire wolf was better left to the imagination. I guess we'll find out.
Stay tuned for more Notes from the Frontier posts on the dire wolf. The science and research of these magnificent creatures is ever evolving.
You may be interested in these related posts:
Indians & Their Dogs
Prairie Pets
https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/prairie-companions
Custer's Dogs
"The Dire Wolf Rises Again!" was first published on Notes from the Frontier and Facebook on APRIL 12, 2025.
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