Dire wolves featured in Game of Thrones distant relative of modern wolves: study

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, January 14, 2021
Adjust font size:

CANBERRA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ancient DNA has revealed that dire wolves which became known after TV series Game of Thrones were only distant relatives of modern wolves.

In a world-first, researchers from the University of Adelaide, Durham University, Ludwig Maximilian University, and the University of California Los Angeles have sequenced the DNA of five dire wolf fossils from North America dating back up to 50,000 years.

They found that dire wolves split from other wolves 6 million years ago and were so genetically different from other canines that they could not breed with coyotes and grey wolves.

Dire wolves, which were the same size as large grey wolves but had larger teeth and the strongest bite force of any known canine, were common in North America before going extinct 13,000 years ago, likely because they failed to adapt to the changing conditions of the ice age.

"Dire wolves are sometimes portrayed as mythical creatures, giant wolves prowling bleak frozen landscapes, but reality turns out to be even more interesting," Kieren Mitchell, a co-lead author of the study from the University of Adelaide's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, said in a media release on Thursday.

"Despite anatomical similarities between grey wolves and dire wolves, suggesting that they could perhaps be related in the same way as modern humans and Neanderthals, our genetic results show these two species of wolf are much more like distant cousins, like humans and chimpanzees.

"While ancient humans and Neanderthals appear to have interbred, as do modern grey wolves and coyotes, our genetic data provided no evidence that dire wolves interbred with any living canine species. All our data point to the dire wolf being the last surviving member of an ancient lineage distinct from all living canines." Enditem

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
ChinaNews App Download
Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter