Extinct Dire Wolf (Canus dirus) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

Paleontologists use knowledge of the earth's rocks, global plate tectonic movements, ancient ecosystems, and the chemical process of fossilization to make sense of fossil distribution patterns and ancient habitats.

• 300,000 to 12,000 years ago (Late Pleistocene)
• North America into northern South America (southern Alberta, Canada to southern Bolivia)
• Rare in South America
  • Only 10 fossil sites with dire wolves known to date but lack of exploration may be a factor
  • More than 136 fossils sites known.
• Nearly 4,000 dire wolves found in La Brea asphalt deposits in California
  • Most common of the Pleistocene canids at La Brea (Stock & Harris 1992)

• Extremely variable; forested mountains to open grasslands and plains
• Sea level to 2255 m (7400 ft)
• In Sonora, Mexico, in environments thought to be a tropical marsh with nearby thorn-scrub, deciduous forest, and grassland.
• Pleistocene climate in southern California during time when one of the La Brea asphalt pits collected dire wolves, compared with today: (Coltrain et al 2004).
  • Cooler
  • Wetter
  • Less seasonal

Anyonge & Baker (2006)
Coltrain et al (2004)
Dundas (1999)
Hodnett et al (2009)
Hunt (1996)
Prevosti & Rincon (2007)
Stock & Harris (1992)