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If you have ever visited the tar pits at Rancho La Brea, you know that the dire wolf is the species of mammal most commonly found in the tar pits.
About 25,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene Epoch (1.8 million to 10,000 years aago), crude oil seeped to the surface where Los Angeles stands today. The volatile components of the oil evaporated off, leaving pools of sticky tar behind. After rains, water would be left floating on top of the pools of tar, and animals would venture in for a drink, becoming trapped in the tar. Carnivores, such as the dire wolf and the sabre toothed cat Smilodon then came to feed on the trapped animals, many becoming trapped themselves. The dire wolf is especially well-known from the Rancho La Brea site as thousands of well-fossilized dire wolf specimens have been found in this one area. The dire wolf is often compared to our modern gray wolf, and indeed the two were very similar in appearance. Both were about 1.5 meters (5 feet) in length, and weighed about 50 kg (110 pounds). The dire wolf, however, had a larger, broader head than the gray wolf, although its brain case was smaller in size. Its teeth were also larger and more massive, and it had shorter, sturdier legs. The length of the dire wolf's legs have led many paleontologists to believe that it was not a fast runner. This, combined with the massive teeth of the dire wolf, may indicate that it was not much of a hunter, but instead filled the role of a scavenger. The dire wolf was one of the species that went extinct about 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch. Some paleontologists think that the extinction of other Ice Age mammals led to the extinction of the dire wolf, because it would have less food to eat. Dire wolf photograph by Geoff Habiger of a specimen in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.. Be sure to visit my web site for more links to Natural History Museums. Go To Page: 1 |
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