Ancient DNA reveals secrets of Game of Thrones wolves
Somewhere in Southwestern North America during the late Pleistocene, a pack of dire wolves (Canis dirus) are feeding on their bison kill, while a pair of grey wolves (Canis lupus) approach in the hopes of scavenging. One of the dire wolves rushes in to confront the grey wolves, and their confrontation allows a comparison of the bigger, larger-headed and reddish-brown dire wolf with its smaller, grey relative. Artwork credit:听 Mauricio Ant贸n/Nature.
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Extinct dire wolves split off from other wolves nearly six million years ago and were only a distant relative of today鈥檚 wolves, according to new research published in today.
Dire wolves, made famous in the TV show Game of Thrones, were common across North America until around 13,000 years ago, after which they became extinct.
The study shows that dire wolves were so different from other canine species like coyotes and grey wolves that they were not able to breed with each other. Previous analyses, based on morphology alone, had led scientists to believe that dire wolves were closely related to grey wolves.
The research was led by the Univ