Dire wolf

Template:Taxobox begin
Template:StatusExtinct Template:Taxobox begin placement Template:Taxobox regnum entry Template:Taxobox phylum entry Template:Taxobox subphylum entry Template:Taxobox classis entry Template:Taxobox subclassis entry Template:Taxobox ordo entry Template:Taxobox familia entry Template:Taxobox genus entry Template:Taxobox species entry Template:Taxobox end placement Template:Taxobox section binomial Template:Taxobox end The Dire Wolf (Canis dirus) is an extinct member of the genus canis (wolves, coyotes, jackals, and domestic dogs) was most common in North America during the pleistocene. Although it was closely is related to the modern wolf and hyena, it was not, as common assumed, the direct ancestor of any species knwon today. Dire wolves co-existed with the modern wolf in North America for about 400,000 years, until its extinction about 10,000 years ago during a time of mass extinction of many large North American mammals.

Characteristics

The common misconception of the dire wolf is that it was much larger than the modern grey wolf. In truth, the dire wolf was similar in overall size and appearance to a large modern wolf. On average it was about 1.5 meters (5 feet) in length and weighed about 50 kilograms (110 pounds).

Despite superficial similarities, there were significant differences between the dire wolf and modern wolf.

The legs of the dire wolf were proportionally shorter and sturdier than those of the modern wolf, which suggests that the dire wolf was not as good of a runner as the modern wolf. This suggests that, like the hyena, the dire wolf may have scavenged for food or hunted and/or hunted large, slower-moving prey.

The dire wolf had a larger, broader head and smaller brain-case than that of a similarly-sized gray wolf, and had teeth that were quite massive. Many paleontologists think that the dire wolf may have used its relatively large to crush bone, an idea that is supported by the frequency of large amounts of wear on the crowns of fossilized dire wolf teeth.