Dire wolves were featured in the hit HBO series, Game of Thrones. They are the sigil of House Stark with words, ”Winter is Coming”. House Stark lives in Winterfell which is known for its harsh, well, winter conditions.
It is natural for beasts to live in these kinds of conditions. Like their real life counterparts, Dire wolves lived in the Americas during Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs around 125,000–9,440 years ago, which is known for its harsh winter conditions as well.
During this period, it is said that it co-existed with its extinct rival, the saber-toothed tiger. Remains of the dire wolves have been found across broad range of habitats. From plains, grasslands and some forested mountain areas of North America and in South Africa savannah.
The dire wolves were said have the same size of largest modern grey wolves. Scientists were able to determine the body structure of these magnificent creatures.
According to them, dire wolves stood just over 2 feet tall (between 25 to 30 inches) and weighed on average 110 pounds with a maximum weight of 150 pounds (although some sources indicate from 125 to 175 lbs.), which helped them to adapt and survive.
Its teeth were larger with greater shearing ability, and its bite force at the canine tooth was the strongest of any known Canis species.
These biological advantages helped them take down large preys in that period such as horses, mastodons, ground sloths, bison and camels. Like its modern day descendants, dire wolves hunt in pack.
Eventually, these creatures went extinct due to climate change and competition with other species, but the cause still remains an enigmatic and controversial. Obviously, this kind of event is still possible with the modern wolves but with help from government and organizations, this can be prevented and it starts with us, humans.
If we can take care of Mother Nature and stand side by side with we can do this. Here at Wolvestuff, we advocate of preserving not just wolves but the nature as a whole as well.
Show your support and play a large role. Everything starts with a single step.
