That would have made them about 25 percent bigger than Gray Wolves. Dire Wolves were approximately 5 feet long and weighed around 150 pounds. Some of the most interesting facts about the Dire Wolf is its size and weight statistics. Not only did they share the same habitat and possibly hunt the same prey, it is also likely that they hunted each other!

A thousand of Dire Wolf and Sabre-tooth Tiger fossils have been found in The La Brea Tar Pits of Los Angeles. However, Dire Wolves not only had to compete with Gray Wolves, but they also had to compete with Sabre-tooth Tiger. And while there is no evidence that these two species of animals were mortal enemies, it is probably likely that both of them competed for the same prey. So while they aren’t a direct descendant to dogs, they are related.ĭire Wolves were living comfortably in North America when Grey Wolves crossed the Siberian Land Bridge into North America. Dire wolves are more closely related to Grey Wolves – a species in which all dogs are descended from.

While dire wolves are related to dogs, they are more like a distant cousin to them. However, that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. If you look at Dire Wolf pictures, then you might think that these animals were like large dogs. It was first discovered in the mid-nineteenth century and was named by Joseph Leidy in 1858. It lived approximately 240,000 years ago to 11,000 years ago – what is also known as the Rancholabrean North American Land Mammal Age. Dire Wolf was one of the largest ancestral canines to have ever walk the Earth.

Show me a picture of a wolf