The Dire Wolf (Canis dirus) was a prehistoric species or subspecies of wolf. It is one of the prehistoric animals most associated with the La Brea Tar Pits.
The Dire Wolf was about the same size as a modern wolf, but with shorter legs, a smaller brain, and more massive teeth. Despite its fearsome name, it is thought to have been mainly a scavenger. It became extinct about 11,000 years ago, a time of mass extinction of many large North American mammals.
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