These dire wolves are back from the dead after being extinct for around 12,500 years. Researchers at Colossal Biosciences successfully achieved the first successful case of de-extinction by creating three dire wolf pups through gene editing, cloning, and ancient DNA manipulation. Using DNA from fossils dating back 13,000 and 72,000 years, the company reconstructed the dire wolf genome and identified traits like thick fur, stronger jaws, and broader skulls. Scientists used CRISPR to edit 14 specific genes in gray wolf cells to reflect these traits. They then cloned the modified cells, implanted the embryos into large domestic dogs, and produced three pups: two males born in October 2024 and a female born in January 2025.

The animals now live on a tightly controlled 2,000-acre site with extensive surveillance and oversight from regulatory and animal welfare bodies. Colossal says this milestone demonstrates its de-extinction technology works and provides a foundation for future projects, including the woolly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger, and dodo.

Despite the groundbreaking achievement, scientists and ethicists are divided on what counts as a true de-extinct species. The current animals are about 99.9% gray wolf, and while they look like dire wolves, some argue that physical resemblance alone doesn’t qualify them as true resurrection. The company insists that the successful engineering of the dire wolf phenotype is a major step forward in the broader goal of reintroducing extinct traits into modern ecosystems. The next challenge is to determine how these hybrids would function ecologically or socially outside captivity.

Dire wolves, scientifically known as Aenocyon dirus, roamed the Americas during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs, approximately 125,000 to 10,000 years ago. These formidable canids were larger than modern gray wolves, possessing a more robust build, a wider head, and significantly stronger jaws and teeth, adaptations that likely allowed them to tackle large prey. Fossil evidence indicates a widespread distribution across North and South America, suggesting their adaptability to various habitats, from open grasslands to forests. As apex predators of their time, dire wolves likely played a crucial role in their ecosystems, preying on megafauna such as horses, bison, and ground sloths. The extinction of the dire wolf coincided with the Quaternary extinction event, which saw the decline and disappearance of many of these large herbivores, possibly impacting the dire wolves' food sources and contributing to their eventual disappearance.

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