Its reliance on megaherbivores has been proposed as the cause of its extinction, along with climatic change and competition with other species, or a combination of those factors.

Its extinction occurred during the Quaternary extinction event along with its main prey species. These characteristics are thought to be adaptations for preying on Late Pleistocene megaherbivores, and in North America, its prey is known to have included western horses, ground sloths, mastodons, ancient bison, and camels. lupus, but its teeth were larger with greater shearing ability, and its bite force at the canine tooth was stronger than any known Canis species. Its skull and dentition matched those of C. guildayi weighed on average 60 kilograms (132 lb) and A. The dire wolf was about the same size as the largest modern gray wolves ( Canis lupus): the Yukon wolf and the northwestern wolf. However, the 2020 discovery of dire wolf fossils in northeast China indicates that dire wolves had crossed Beringia when it existed. This range restriction is thought to be due to temperature, prey, or habitat limitations imposed by proximity to the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets that existed at the time. Dire wolf fossils have rarely been found north of 42°N latitude there have been only five unconfirmed reports above this latitude. The sites range in elevation from sea level to 2,255 meters (7,400 ft). The largest collection of its fossils has been obtained from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.ĭire wolf remains have been found across a broad range of habitats including the plains, grasslands, and some forested mountain areas of North America, the arid savanna of South America, and the steppes of eastern Asia. Two subspecies are recognized: Aenocyon dirus guildayi and Aenocyon dirus dirus. The species was named in 1858, four years after the first specimen had been found. The dire wolf lived in the Americas and eastern Asia during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs (125,000–9,500 years ago).

It is one of the most famous prehistoric carnivores in North America, along with its extinct competitor Smilodon. The dire wolf ( Aenocyon dirus / iː ˈ n ɒ s aɪ. Aenocyon dirus nebrascensis Frick, 1930 ( nomen nudum).

Giant black timber wolf