Well, science can only make some intelligent guesses based on what were the prevailing conditions at the time. So was this a coincidence, and if not then what really happened? This event happened at about the same time that other comparable predators like the saber-tooth tiger also disappeared. These wolves went extinct not too long ago: in fact, just about 10,000 years ago. (Author “Pyry Matikainen (pmatikainen)” cc by-s.a. Why Did Dire Wolves Go Extinct? Skulls Of Dire Wolves On Display At Page Museum.
On the other hand, wolf bite marks on dire wolf skulls indicates that there were often fights within the packs possibly to reestablish pack hierarchy. This theory further supports the belief that dire wolves were social animals that moved in tightly-knit packs with pack members caring for the injured. Some experts are led to propose that based on the severity of these injuries, there’s no way the affected individuals would have survived long afterwards on their own. The injuries found on most dire wolf bones are almost unimaginable. However, the effects of hunting such large ungulates were terrible. But working together as a pack, they were quite successful in these hunting ventures. Their powerful skull and dentition allowed them to bite into and hang on to large struggling animals since their forelimbs are not adapted to holding prey. Dire wolves were hypercarnivores: Isotopic Analysis shows that they largely ignored smaller prey and would attack ground sloths, bison, mastodons, camels and likely chased and killed horses too. Same as other wolves, this wolf species was most likely a pack hunter.īased on a combination of its powerful bite force and sharp, shearing teeth, researchers can deduce that it went after much larger prey than itself. Their remains are actually abundant and are found in different terrain from plains and grasslands, to forested mountains and the arid savannas of South America. Thousands of dire wolf skulls were found in the La Brea Tar Pits and are on display at the Page Museum there. Large herbivores strolling past the area would get stuck in the muck thereby attracting predatory birds and other mammals like the dire wolves who would in turn get stuck too! As a result, a large number of them actually perished in the pits.
The largest collection of fossils for this wolf so far were extracted from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. In fact, the first fossil that announced this species was discovered in the Ohio River bed near Evansville, Indiana. In their heyday, they lived from Alaska all the way to Florida and parts of South America. There are actually two subspecies of this wolf: Canis Dirus Guildayiand Canis Dirus Dirus.ĭire wolves were native to the Americas especially the USA. These wolves prowled through much of their territory during the Late Pleistocene epoch (from 125,000 to 10,000 years ago). Though similar in size to the largest wolves around today, a few fossils suggests that some individual dire wolves could have weighed up to 240 lbs (110 kg). Obviously to enable it quickly bring down the large prey it favored. Though it had a comparable skull and dentition with the largest of today’s modern wolves, it had much larger teeth designed for precision cutting.ĭire wolves canine teeth had the highest bite force of all members of the Canis species. However, fossil evidence suggests that some dire wolves were even larger than that. The dire wolf is comparable in size to the modern day Yukon Wolf (Canis Lupus) and the Northwestern Wolf (Canis Lupus Occidentalis). (60 to 68 kg), stood at about 38 inches (97 cm) at the shoulders, and were approximately 69 inches (180 cm) long. (Author Mariomassone, NASA/Wiki Commons cc by-2.5) This animal is known as Canis Dirus meaning “fearsome dog.” It was about the same proportions as the largest gray wolves you could find today and it remains the largest type of Canis to have existed. The meaning of this animal’s scientific name will give you a clue about what kind of predator it was. Though this creature no longer lives, researchers have been finding and studying its fossils for years and here’s all the information they’ve gathered so far. It ranks high among the most famous and indeed fascinating prehistoric carnivores ever along with its also extinct competitor, the saber-toothed tiger (or saber-toothed cat). The dire wolf is an extinct species belonging to the genus Canis.
#Dire wolf information movie#
Like many people, you may have wondered if Dire Wolves ever really existed or if this animal is just another result of the hyperactive imagination of a movie producer. Artist Illustration Of Dire Wolves Hunting In A Forest. Dire Wolves are so popular now that the only prehistoric animals that rival them in fame are mammoths and saber-tooth tigers.
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