Not clickbait — the real thing:
A big, burly, brute of a canid would certainly appear dire to us, but was it a wolf?
The taxonomy described by Wikipedia is complicated.
But according to this recent study, dire wolves may have been the last representatives of an ancient line that was native to the Americas, whereas living wild canids like coyotes and the gray wolf are relative noobies here! (Correction: Per this sources, coyotes are natives, too.)
Some lagniappe:
“Uh, maybe we should put the access panel for background lights behind the display case, instead of inside it, before putting up those 400 dire wolf skulls?”
“Nah — how hard can it be to change a lightbulb?”
Of course, they’re clearly doing something more complex with the lights than changing a bulb; I just couldn’t resist the joke.
By the way, have you ever wondered how they get those animal fossils out of the goo, and what happens after that?
Edited November 10, 2022.
Featured image: Aunt Spray/Shutterstock
Flight To Wonder 