Dire

[Dire wolf article from Wikipedia]

The dire wolf (Canis dirus "fearsome dog") is an extinct carnivorous mammal of the genus Canis. 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 to 10,000 years ago, persisting for approximately 1.79 million years.  Behavior and ecology

Dire wolves are part of the same carnivorous guild as the smaller gray wolves and coyotes. Dire wolves' overpowering bite, 129% of the force of the modern gray wolf, could hold and subdue their prey. As inferred from their large bodies and carnivorous teeth, they often took on large prey or megafauna, made possible by traveling in packs. Dire wolves were not specialized hunters—they fed on whatever megafauna was abundant.

Compared to modern species, a remarkable number of dire wolf specimens from the La Brea pits showed evidence of having broken their teeth in life. Specimens in the older part of the pit exhibited more tooth wear than those in the younger pit, which could be a result of either the older part of the pit containing more senior dire wolf specimens or a diet that included harder foods such as carcasses and bones. Another explanation for increased tooth wear and breakage could be intense competition among carnivores forcing C. dirus to eat as much of the carcass as quickly as possible.

The dire wolf has an extremely extensive fossil range. It is known to be located as far north as Canada and south into southern Bolivia. Ten localities in Mexico are known to contain Canis dirus: Cedazo, Aguascalientes; Comondu, Baja California; El Cedral, San Luis Potosí; El Tajo Quarry, Tequixquiac, and Valsequillo, all in Distrito Federal, Mexico; Lago de Chapala, Jalisco; Loltun Cave, Yucatán; Potrecito, Sinaloa; and San Josecito Cave, Nuevo León.

Due to the large amount of remains at the Rancho La Brea tar pits it is possible dire wolves used animals trapped here as a food source and some end up being trapped and preserved themselves. It can also be concluded that they were social predators as they are most successful in defending carcasses.

Habitat and distribution

The habitat of C. dirus varied considerably. In North America, it ranged from plains and grasslands to forested mountain areas. In South America, it occupied areas of arid savannah. The dire wolf lived in several habitats, tropical marsh with thorn-scrub to deciduous forest including some component of nearby grassland, and from sea level up to 2255 m (7400 feet). It was widespread, and its remains have been found in 136 places, from Alberta, Canada, to Tarija, Bolivia. Although the dire wolf was recorded as far north as Alberta, its remains have never been found at higher latitudes. The dire wolf may have migrated to northern Canada during interglacial periods, but its remains would likely have been obliterated by later glacial activity. However, the last named species of dire wolf was said to be found in North America stemming from Florida. The largest known dire wolves specimens have also said to been recovered from this area of North America. So even though the dire wolf has migrated it may have found to be seasonal.

The dire wolf is well known for its unusually high representation in La Brea Tar Pits in California. Over 200,000 fragments representing more than 4,000 individual dire wolves have been recovered from the tar pits, more than any other mammal species. This large number suggests the dire wolf, like modern wolves and dogs, hunted in packs. The abundance of remains of the gray wolf (C. lupus, also known as C. furlongi) in the tar pits is about 1% that of the dire wolf.

Evolution

Whether the dire wolf originated in North America versus South America is the subject of controversy. Most paleontologists lean toward a North American origin for three reasons: first, more potential progenitors are present in the middle Pleistocene of North America; second, distribution of C. dirus is much better represented in North America, with 136 sites versus only three localities in South America; and last, C. dirus appears earlier in the fossil record in North America than South America. A North American origin implies that C. dirus migrated into South America from North and Central America.

Extinction

The dire wolf was one of the abundant Pleistocene megafauna—a wide variety of large mammals that lived during the Pleistocene. Approximately 10,000 years ago the dire wolf became extinct along with most other North American megafauna.

During the Late Pleistocene (300,000 years ago) the gray wolf (C. lupus) crossed into North America on the Bering Strait land bridge and competed with the dire wolf. Overlapping fossil findings of the extinct saber tooth cat, the Smilodon, also shows that the dire wolf had these as another competitor in North America as well. They both were social animals which meant their hunting was in packs and both shared the same prey. Starting about 16,000 years ago, coinciding with the end of the last glacial period and the arrival of humans in North America, most of the large mammals upon which the dire wolf depended for prey began to die out, possibly as a result of climate and/or human-induced changes.

Slower than the other wolf species on the continent at the time, primarily the gray wolf and red wolf, the dire wolf could not hunt the swifter species that remained and was forced to subsist by scavenging. By approximately 10,000 years ago, the large mammals and the dire wolf were extinct. Their demise, along with the demise of other large Pleistocene carnivores, was found to be related to the extinction of megafaunal prey. To understand fully the extinction of C. dirus, many more dire wolf specimens must be directly dated. In addition to this, more information must be gathered on the factors that affected its biogeographical range and population size, including competition, interactions with predators and prey, its physical environment, as well as how all of its competitors and prey responded to the event of time; thus, the timing of extinction of megafauna that closely interacted with C. dirus must be determined.

[Dire wolf info by mamannella00]

General

The dire wolf is the strongest and largest wolf species but very rare. They can be found in Alaska and some parts of the Northwest Territories. Look for gold eyes, heavy and muscular build, dark colours, fangs, and hot-temper. Authentic dire wolves adopt the heavy build but the Modern dire wolves are thinner and not as strong, they also don't have key qualities that the Authentic dire wolves have.

Surviving

A group of wolves studied the gray wolf's abilities to hunt faster prey and started to mimic. They moved from megafauna to more quicker prey so they were able to survive. But since there were only very few of them (Around 1000) mate of them decided to mate with gray wolves or timber wolves while the rest continued the dire wolf chain.

Colours

Brown and tan are the most common, next is black while white and silver are the most rare. All dire wolves have gold eyes except for white or silver dire wolves who'd sometimes have the rare blue eyes.  Specialties

Dire wolves were very social despite their personality, they would hold pow-wows (get-togethers) where they'd sing. They don't do this now but the "current" Dire wolves are still very good singers, they sing through prolonged howls (this is how we would hear them).

Love

"when you see the light, you know you've found the one"

Authentic dire wolves see in darkness while Modern dire wolves see like normal wolves. The wolves who do see in darkness have an easier chance in finding a mate, if they see glowing eyes then it means that they have found true love or it means that they can trust someone. The light can also be created if two wolves start to like each other.