Dire Wolf

extinct animals · ice age · canines · prehistoric

Huge hunting dog. The dire wolf was much larger and more powerful than today's gray wolves, with a stocky build and incredibly strong jaws perfect for taking down massive prey during the ice age.

Found in tar pits. Scientists discovered thousands of dire wolf fossils stuck in the famous Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, where these predators got trapped while trying to hunt animals already stuck in the sticky tar.

Americas only. Dire wolves lived only in North and South America during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs, hunting for tens of thousands of years before going extinct.

Named quite recently. Even though dire wolves roamed Earth for millions of years, scientists didn't name the species until 1858, just four years after finding the first fossil specimen.