Dire wolf
Skeletons of C. dirus in the Washington National Museum of Natural History
- North America ( Rancho La Brea, Alberta, Canada)
- South America ( Peru)
Canis dirus (Latin: " terrible dog " ) is an extinct species of dogs ( Canidae ). He belonged to the genus Canis, which is now represented even by wolves, domestic dogs, jackals and coyotes. He lived in the Pleistocene North and South America and died out about 10,000 years ago. Canis dirus was not the ancestor of the modern wolf (Canis lupus), as is often assumed. Its English common name is Dire Wolf.
Appearance
Canis dirus was like a wolf in physique, but was slightly larger than this. The average head -body length was about 1.5 m and the weight was about 50 kg. Unlike the wolf Canis dirus was a bit stockier and had shorter, stronger limbs. The head was greater than that of a correspondingly large Wolf, however, the brain volume decreases. His teeth were stronger than those of all other species of the genus Canis.
Way of life
The shorter legs suggest that he was not a very good runner. In connection with his mighty fangs, which were likely to break even bigger bone, it can be concluded on a rather carrion-eating lifestyle. Maybe he lived like a hyena and occupied the ecological niche on the American continent. This hypothesis is supported by strong signs of wear on the teeth of animals. On the other hand, some fossils of Canis dirus healed fractures, which are identical with those which also carry current wolves sometimes in confrontations with particularly large and fortified prey such as moose or elk it. It is therefore likely that these animals also actively hunted quite similar to today's hyenas. Even hyenas show strong signs of wear of their teeth, but regardless of whether it is in their food to themselves hunted prey or carrion is found, as they almost always fully exploit carcasses.
Finds and dissemination
Canis dirus well developed ambrusteri from Canis. This occurred in the mid- Pleistocene, about 800,000 years ago the first time and spread all over the American double continent. He later died from in North America, but survived in South America, where he probably became the ancestor of Canis dirus. This was, therefore, in South America and came from there to North America, which he reached about 100,000 years ago. Was 200,000 years earlier already Canis lupus immigrated from Eurasia to North America. Over a period of about 100,000 years lived and Wolf Canis dirus together in the same habitats, but about 10,000 years ago overtook the " direwolf " the same fate as many other animals of the American continent. He died suddenly from along with mammoth, American mastodon, short-faced bears, saber-toothed cats and giant sloth, while the wolf (Canis lupus) has survived to this day. Canis dirus occurred to Peru in the late Pleistocene of Alberta ( Canada). The most famous sites are located at the Rancho La Brea in what is now California. Here the remains were excavated from 3600 individuals, found more than from any other species there. Fossil finds in Arkansas provide evidence that the last could have survived until 4000 years ago.
Cultural reception
Canis dirus in the fantasy genre
The Canis dirus ( Direwolf ) is taken to be particularly large, intelligent wolf in books and films of the fantasy genre. So he is a living being and emblem part of the fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin and based on it, popular television series Game of Thrones. In the German translation of the term is, however, rendered with shadow wolf. In the spin-off book series The Wolves of the Beyond of Legend of the Guardians and the novel series itself Canis dirus plays a greater role.