North America was once home to many large mammals which became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age: the glacial maximum occurred about 20,000 to 18,000 years ago. By about 15,500 years ago, many of the large mammals were beginning to disappear. Among the many species that became extinct at this time was the dire wolf.
The dire wolf is one of the largest wolf species. Dire wolves ranged throughout North America. Paleontological evidence—i.e. fossils—shows that the dire wolf was in North America by 130,000 years ago and was extinct by 8,000 years ago.
These wolves, like today’s gray wolves, probably hunted in packs.
According to the La Brea Tar Pits Museum display:
“The dire wolf, Canis dirus, was probably a very close relative of the timber wolf, Canis lupus. It probably hunted like the timber wolf in packs of from three to over 20 animals. The dire wolf had stronger and more powerful teeth and jaws and could bring down an animal as large as a bison or camel. However, we believe that much of their diet consisted of small mammals and the kills of other carnivores.”
Ian Lange, in his book Ice Age Mammals of North America: A Guide to the Big, the Hairy, and the Bizarre, writes:
“The dire wolf had the most powerful jaws and teeth of all the wolves but a smaller brain than today’s wily gray wolf.”
According to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum display:
“In many types of mammals, males have a bone called the baculum in their penis. Females may have a similar but smaller bone.”
More Paleontology Museum Tours
Paleontology 101: Brontotheres (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: The Paleozoic (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: Sloths at La Brea Tar Pits
Paleontology 101: Bears, Pronghorns, and Pigs
Paleontology 101: North American Horses, Rhinos, and Camels (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: Dinosaur Hall (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: The California Pleistocene (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: A Paleontological Site