The dire wolf (Canis dirus "fearsome dog") is an extinct carnivorous mammal of the genus Canis related to the smaller extant gray wolf. It was most common in North America and South America from the Irvingtonian stage to the Rancholabrean stage of the Pleistocene epoch, living 1.80 Ma—10,000 years ago, persisting for approximately 1.79 million years.
Read more about Dire Wolf: Discovery, Taxonomic History, Evolution and Extinction
Famous quotes containing the words dire and/or wolf:
“What dire offence from am’rous causes springs,
What mighty contests rise from trivial things,
I sing—”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“I wander on, and wave my hands,
And sing, and shake my heavy locks.
The grey wolf knows me; by one ear
I lead along the woodland deer;
The hares run by me growing bold.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)