nauka: Dire wolf

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus ) is an extinct species of canine which was native to the Americas during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs (125,000–10,000 years ago). The species was named in 1858, four years after the first specimen had been found. Two subspecies are proposed, Aenocyon dirus guildayi and Aenocyon dirus dirus, but this assignment has been recently considered questionable. The largest collection of its fossils has been obtained from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Dire wolf remains have been found across a broad range of habitats including plains, grasslands, and some forested mountain areas of North America and the arid savanna of South America. The…

Evidence: 20 • authority: 80

Records of Pompeii’s survivors have been found – and archaeologists are starting to understand how they rebuilt their lives

Evidence: 20 • authority: 80

On the most Northerly Latitude at which Land and Freshwater Molluscs have hitherto been found

Evidence: 20 • authority: 80

What’s the deal with dire wolves? Iconic predators may have been ‘the Neanderthals of the wolf world’

Evidence: 20 • authority: 80

The legendary dire wolf may not have been a wolf at all

Evidence: 20 • authority: 72

The largest prehistoric animals include both vertebrate and invertebrate species. Many of them are described below, along with their typical range of size (for the general dates of extinction, see the link to each). Many species mentioned might not actually be the largest representative of their clade due to the incompleteness of the fossil record and many of the sizes given are merely estimates since no complete specimen have been found. Their body mass, especially, is largely conjecture because soft tissue was rarely fossilized. Generally, the size of extinct species was subject to energetic and biomechanical constraints.

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The wolf (Canis lupus; pl.: wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey wolves, as popularly understood, include only naturally occurring wild subspecies. The wolf is the largest wild extant member of the family Canidae, and is further distinguished from other Canis species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller Canis species, such as the coyote and the golden jackal, to produce fertile hybrids with them. The wolf's fur is usually…

Evidence: — • authority: 80

Quaternary records of the dire wolf, Canis dirus, in North and South America

Evidence: — • authority: 88

Differential taphonomic effects of petroleum seeps and karstic sinkholes on ancient dire wolf teeth: Hydrocarbon impregnation preserves fossils for chemical and histological analysis. ABSTRACT Histological analysis of teeth can yield information on an organism’s growth and development, facilitating investigations of diet, health, environment, and long-term responses to selective pressures. In the Americas, an extraordinary abundance of Late Pleistocene fossils including teeth has been preserved in petroleum seeps, constituting a major source of information about biotic changes and adaptations at the end of the last glacial period. However, the usefulness of these fossils for histological st…