Dire wolf

Aenocyon dirus · The dire wolf is an extinct species of canine that lived in the Americas during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs, from 125,000 to 10,000 years ago.

It lived about 0.125 to 0.01 million years ago.

Dire wolf
Photo: Chris Woodrich, CC BY-SA 4.0
Dire wolf
Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0
Dire wolf
Photo: Ghedoghedo, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyCanidae
GenusAenocyon
SpeciesAenocyon dirus

Where its fossils were found

North and South America (USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia).

Fun facts

  • Dire wolves were about as big as the largest modern gray wolves, averaging roughly 60 to 68 kilograms.
  • Relative to body weight, the dire wolf's bite at the canine teeth was stronger than that of any known Canis species.
  • Dire wolf remains outnumber gray wolf remains in the La Brea tar pits by five to one.
  • Dire wolves sometimes scavenged on beached whales along the Pacific coast when they could.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).