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Dire Wolves Were Not Actually Wolves At All, Surprising Study Reveals

Dior wolves were among the most influential predators in North America until quite a while ago, but most of what we know about them was wrong. In particular, these two divided 5-6 million years ago, far from being the larger relatives of the gray wolves.

Dior wolves were once very common, with over 4,000 bones found in a pit at La Barry in Los Angeles. Yet little research has been done on their predecessors. Now a large international team has compared the deadly wolf DNA from five places to modern canid species over 50,000 years. The result published in nature is a shock. Dyer wolves have no close relatives. Instead, they separated from the line in which the gray wolves, dogs, and quails did the Eurasian jackals at the same time. The former males of the deadly wolf tiger were probably gray wolves and had been in North America for a long time before coming to Kuwait, but we know very little about them.

When the gray wolves crossed the Bering Strait they shared a continent of deadly wolves for at least 10,000 years, but there seems to have been no breeding. The authors believe that the two evolved so far in order to have a successful mating, that modern cannabis manages even with jackfruit.

“Sometimes wolves are portrayed as mythical creatures – giant wolves spread black frozen landscapes – but the reality turns out to be even more interesting,” Dr. Kieran Mitchell of the University of Adelaide said in a statement. Mitchell told IFLScience that he thinks the wolf lineage was somewhat neglected because “people were probably confident enough to know the answer by keeping the similarities between the skeletons of the two wolves.”

In addition, Mitchell added, “Dyer wolf fossils have been found mostly in tropical or subtropical environments, where DNA is not very well preserved. We had to work harder to extract DNA and spend a lot more money.” There should have been a formula. The part of the wolf that does not have fossil fossils may have more in common with African wild dogs than winter-loving gray wolves.

Michelle told IFLScience that they have no close relatives. The only ancestor we can tie them to with confidence is the wolf of the extinct Armbruster’s. Mitchell added, “Lots of endangered species were thought to be associated with both gray and deadly wolves. Now scientists need to do the work of their line that they are really on.

The long line of gray wolves has split into several tiny species, with the brutal mark of the terrifying wolf that Mitchell thinks is because this niche in North America was filled by members of the cat family. Once upon a time, the rising temperatures of the last ice age, competition from humans, and the extinction of prey species led to the extinction of deadly wolves, as well as saber-toothed cats and North American lions. A counter adapted to small prey may survive.

This discovery means that terrifying wolves may need a new genus name, as they are no longer members of the Canis. Mitchell and colleagues have suggested Aenocyon as a “terrible wolf”, although it is likely that Aenocyon virus will still be called a deadly wolf.

Mitchell told IFLScience that he began studying horrible wolves before George R. R. Martin’s book series and the next TV series Game of Thrones (#TeamStark) made them an international favorite, but they must help non-scientists understand his preferences. Did. “When you’re describing your work to people and they’ll know the animal they’re talking about,” he said, it’s not always the case with experts on endangered species. Alas, Mitchell can’t say what the chances were of having a deadly wolf as a pet or guardian against the White Walkers.

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