Wiktionary
n. An extinct canine (''Canis dirus'') from the Pleistocene era
Wikipedia
The dire wolf (Canis dirus, "fearsome dog") is an extinct species of the genus Canis. It is perhaps one of the most famous prehistoric carnivores in North America along with its extinct competitor Smilodon, the "sabre-toothed cat". Canis dirus lived in the Americas during the Late Pleistocene epoch (125,000–10,000 years ago). The species was named in 1858 but the first specimen had been found in 1854 in Ohio, USA. Two subspecies are recognized: Canis dirus guildayi and Canis dirus dirus. The species probably descended from Canis ambrusteri and evolved from it in North America. The largest collection of dirus fossils has been obtained from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California.
Canis dirus remains have been found across a broad range of habitats including the plains, grasslands and some forested mountain areas of North America, and in the arid savannah of South America. The sites range in elevation from sea level to 2,255 m (7,400 feet). Dire wolf fossils have rarely been found north of 42°N latitude, with five unconfirmed reports above it. This range restriction is thought to be due to temperature, prey, or habitat imposed by proximity to the Laurentide Ice Sheet and the Cordilleran Ice Sheet that existed at that time.
Canis dirus was about the same size as the largest extant gray wolves (Canis lupus): the Yukon wolf and the Northwestern wolf. C.d. guildayi weighed on average and C.d. dirus on average . Its skull and dentition matched those of lupus, however its teeth were larger with greater shearing ability, and its biteforce at the canine tooth was the strongest of any known Canis species. These characteristics are thought to be adaptions for preying on Late Pleistocene megaherbivores, and in North America its prey is known to have included horse, sloth, mastodon, bison and camels. As with other large Canis hypercarnivores today, dirus was thought to have been a pack-hunter. Its extinction occurred during the Quaternary extinction event along with its main prey species. Its reliance on megaherbivores has been proposed as the cause of its extinction, along with climate change and competition with other species, but the cause remains unknown. The latest dire wolf remains were dated to 9,440 years ago.
Usage examples of "dire wolf".
He knew he had no more chance of restraining the dwarf if he decided to attack than he would have of holding back a dire wolf, but he felt he had better try.
No dire wolf with half a brain would come within a whiff of this place.
And the coyote, the Plains fox, the common wolf, and the dire wolf would be following their noses and running in to the toothsome feast.
I looked back at the jaws of the dire wolf skull and thought, yeah, they're big enough.
Another spear, lighter, but as deadly and well aimed, sped through the air, caught the dire wolf behind the right shoulder.
Then the dire wolf trotted on to the nearest carcass, where the women had stripped only the choicest meat, to investigate food for which it would not have to fight.