Have dire wolves really been brought back from extinction? 🐺

The “de-extinction” company Colossal Biosciences claims to have brought back dire wolves – ancient animals that roamed Earth 10,000 years ago.

But is it right to call them dire wolves, or are these just grey wolves in dire wolf clothing? Michael Le Page weighs in…

Hear the full story on New Scientist Weekly, a news podcast for the insatiably curious, this week hosted by Penny Sarchet and Timothy Revell.

–


Get more from New Scientist:

About New Scientist:
New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human.

New Scientist

[carolineapodaca]

My big fear is the same type of idiots that think tigers, lions and bears make great pets will start keeping these "de-extinct" species. We barely have the resources for the current animals rescued, few will know the behavior of or how handle these properly or have the right resources. There's also already been the problem of GOT fans getting dog breeds like Huskies to have something similar to the dire wolves only to later fill shelters with them.

[majesticunicornturle]

-Direwolves- X
Dietwolves ✓

Still pretty cool but not a Recreated but Modified animal.

The only problem is the marketing and inaccuracy of it.

[Teaumess]

Polar bears are overheating, what makes anyone think that this or bringing back any other extinct animal is an actual worthwhile idea that isn't something that might as well be a little kid's unrealistic science dream, like wanting to invent time travel

[queenbee]

It’s weird because it would make more sense for them to lean into the idea that they were filling the niche left by wolves within the concept of speciation or the ecosystem. The way they keep doubling down on having created “direwolves” with regards to an actual “species” while simultaneously sticking to a purely morphological conception of speciation is bizarre.

[duderino]

When I heard the name Beth Shapiro, all was clear. Fraud is too polite of a word. Hey, Beth, is Eske in on this?

[humanperson]

Unless there's a clear problem that needs fixing in an ecosystem, is it a good idea to reintroduce extinct animals?
If the ecosystem has shifted to live without an organism. I don't like the idea of introducing what is essentially an alien species.
Even if it used to fit into a niche, that ecosystem has moved on.
Don't want another cane toad problem on our hands.

[labaebae]

this feels like it’s about more than wolves

[zaraleemcauliffe]

I mean theyre gentically.modof8ed grey wolves and thats pretty cool but definitly not actual dire wolves.

[alexmuller]

It is so strange to hear „Remus, Romulus“ in that order

[DIGITAL_DECAY.EXE_]

They can't release them into the wild the ecosystem they inhabited is gone. Also they are dire wolf like animals not actually Dire wolves.

[DwightDeiparineAnuada]

When it reach its adult stage It stands in 4 feet and a length of 7 feet

[heterosapien]

If they edited the genome completely in such a manner that there were no discernible differences between one and the other, would that still not be a dire wolf?

I just don’t think the idea that we are going to put 30, 000 year old dna into an egg plausible.

But if you figure out how to modify an Asian elephant into having the same genetic disposition as a mammoth and then that animal goes onto flourish in that environment, how is that not bringing it back from the dead?

[katrinsarascholz]

ifsomething looks like... it is??
someone should watch the video "how anything evolved into cats"
there are cat-lookalike animals all over the fauna spectrum. even invertebrates and lizards that look like felidae a lot but genetically are FAR AWAY from kitties.

[Dobuan]

Me and my wife are dire wolves.
And Brian.
And Spartacus.

[catetanenbaum]

Are morphological classifications being shown more and more to be totally off base? Like old classifications are showing animals in the same category aren't necessarily related just bc they look alike and vice versa. So their response on it being morphologically a dire wolf seems very sus

[MisstressLola]

Yeah, let’s play good idea, bad idea😂😂

[philipb]

Is there justice for the voir dire wolves?

[markdrummond]

They are mutant grey wolves, not direwolfs.

[neckreductioncream]

Aye, cos normal sized wolves weren’t dangerous enough that we had to go and supersize em😂😂
More disappointed they claim these have any true relationship to dire wolves🤦🏼‍♂️

[NetNephew-hq]

Great! Now work on bringing back the fire breathing dragons! #GameOfThrones