Related Biomes
Dire Wolf
Dire Wolf, Canis dirus
Canis dirus was one of the largest canids of the wolf lineage to evolve in North America. Although the largest sample of dire wolf remains are found in the Rancho la Brea tar pits in California, the first recorded dire wolf specimen was a jaw bone recovered from the bed of the Ohio River near Evansville, Indiana in 1854. Dr. Joseph Norwood, the first State Geologist of Illinois, forwarded this specimen to Dr. Joseph Leidy in Philadelphia for identification, at which point it became the type fossil for the species.
Canis dirus from Megenity Peccary Cave, southern Indiana. On display at the Indiana State Museum.
Height at shoulder: 80 cm (2.6 ft)
Average Weight: 60 kg (130 lbs); Anyonge and Roman 2006
Physical Description:
The dire wolf was similar in size and weight to a large modern gray wolf, and it probably looked somewhat similar to the modern wolf, but with a few key differences. The dire wolf had a heavier build with shorter, sturdier legs than its modern relative, which may indicate that it was not as good a runner as the gray wolf. The dire wolf also had a large, broad head with larger, stronger teeth and a smaller braincase than is found in the gray wolf. The carnassial molars (lower 1st molar and upper 4th premolar) are significantly larger than the same teeth in modern wolves. Many paleontologists think that the dire wolf used these massive teeth to crush bone, which is supported by the excessive wear commonly recorded on the crowns of dire wolf teeth.
Dire Wolf at the Cincinnati Museum Center
As with many other species, the dire wolf went extinct during the terminal Pleistocene, possibly due to the extinction of its presumed prey - large megafauna.
Dire wolves had a wide distribution throughout North America south of the Laurentide ice sheet as well as in Central and South America. Habitats would have included open grasslands, forests, and wetlands. In the Midwest, C. dirus is found in cave assemblages thoughout the Ozark uplift (Bat Cave, Perkins Cave, Peccary Cave), eastward into Kentucky (Welsh Cave) and Appalacia (Guy Wilson Cave).
Dundas, R. G. (1999). Quaternary records of the dire wolf, Canis dirus, in North and South America. Boreas, 28(3), 375-385.
Hawksley, O., Reynolds, J. F., & Foley, R. L. (1973). Pleistocene Vertebrate Fauna of Bat Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri. Bulletin of the National Speleological Society, 35(3), 61-87.
Wang, X. (1990). Pleistocene dire wolf remains from the Kansas River with notes on dire wolves in Kansas. Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas.
Related Animals:
