dire wolf

[dahyuhr woolf]

noun

1. an extinct canid species, Aenocyon dirus, with two recognized subspecies (A. dirus dirus andA. dirus guildayi ), living in the Americas and eastern Asia during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs: similar in size to the largest modern gray wolf (Canis lupus ), but with larger, more powerful teeth suited for preying upon large prehistoric herbivores, such as mastodons, bison, camels, and horses.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dire wolf¹

First recorded in 1910–15; translation of New Latin Canis dirus “dread dog,” species name coined by Joseph Leidy ( def. ) (1858); designation Aenocyon dirus (from Greek ainós, “terrible” + Greek cýon, “dog” [+ dirus ]) proposed (but not universally accepted) in 1918 to consolidate variously named species deemed separate from genus Canis ; 2021 DNA findings show the dire wolf to be highly distinct from extant wolflike canines and so the classification A. dirus is now accepted as appropriate

Example Sentences

This is the same company that “brought back” the ice-age dire wolf with financial help from Game of Thrones author George R.R.

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The laboratory “moa,” like the “dire wolf,” would similarly be a hybrid animal, not a clone.

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On April 7, Colossal Biosciences, a biotech company founded in Dallas in 2021 with the goal of “de-extincting” animals, announced it had brought back the dire wolf, a creature last seen in these parts around 10,000 years ago.

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To that end, the dire wolf was bigger than the grey wolves that existed at the same time, with large, shearing teeth carrying an extremely strong bite force.

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Dire wolf skeleton at La Brea tarpits museum.

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