Dire wolf

The dire wolf (Canis dirus, "fearsome dog") is an species of wolf in the genus Canis. It is one of the most famous prehistoric carnivores in North America. The dire wolf lived in the Americas during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs (125,000–9,440 years ago).^[9] The species was named in 1858, four years after the first specimen had been found.

Dire wolf Temporal range: Late Pleistocene present
Mounted skeleton, Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Genus:	Canis
Species:	†C. dirus
Binomial name
Canis dirus Leidy, 1858[1]
Subspecies
Canis dirus dirus Kurten 1984[2] Canis dirus guildayi Kurten 1984[2]
Synonyms
Canis primaevus Leidy (1854)[3] Canis indianensis Leidy (1869)[4] Canis mississippiensis Allen (1876)[5] Canis ayersi Sellards (1916)[6] Aenocyon dirus Merriam (1918)[7] Aenocyon dirus nebrascensis Frick (1930) (nomen nudum)[8]

In 2025, media said things about cloning this kind of wolf; However, an article on website ScientificAmerican.com said about the three wolves that were produced in 2024 and early 2025, that "many scientists say [... that those 3 wolves are not] the dire wolf. Rather, they say, it is a gray wolf whose genome has been edited to give it some [traits from dire wolves or] dire-wolf-like traits".^[10]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized. These subspecies are Canis dirus guildayi and Canis dirus dirus.^[9] The dire wolf probably evolved from Armbruster's wolf (Canis armbrusteri) in North America.

The dire wolf was about the same size as the largest gray wolves alive now.^[11]

Diet

The dire wolf probably ate horses, ground sloths, mastodons, bison, and camels. The dire wolf was probably a pack hunter. This means that many dire wolves would hunt for prey together. Modern wolves are also pack hunters.

Extinction

The dire wolf became extinct during the Quaternary extinction event.