While most people may know wolves from so many of their scenes in scene theft Game of Thrones, they did not jump straight from the mind of George RR Martin. In fact, scientists know about the creature that became extinct since the middle of the 19th century.
Until recently, many believed that the wolf was just (Canis dirus) was largely more closely related to the gray wolf (Canis lupus), in part because their skeletons look so similar. But a new study published in Nature suggesting that the two species share much less than they appear.
This began when archaeologist Angela Perri, from Durham University in the UK, embarked on a trip across North America to find wolf fossils from museum collections and see if she could extract DNA from them. Her attempt succeeded: As National Geography reports, Perri and her colleagues were able to classify genomes from five direct wolf fossils from Idaho, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wyoming. The remains are from 50,000 years ago to about 13,000 years ago (around the time of terrible wolves).
After comparing the horrible sequences of the wolf with those from gray wolves and several other canals, the researchers found that straight wolves and gray wolves were genetically differentiated. from their common ancestor about 5.7 million years ago. Mar Scientific America explain, their morphological appearance is an example of convergent evolution; in other words, they developed similar signals because their lifestyles were similar, not because their DNA was similar.
Based on these findings, it is possible that horrible wolves spent millions of years evolving in America – long separated from the gray wolves back in Eurasia. In that case, it may have been the migration of other species – even humans – that led wolves to extinction.
“The question now is: Have they become extinct in relation to climate and environmental change, or have humans and other wolves and dogs become extinct and [diseases] coming in to push them out? ” Perri told National Geography.
The study could influence the scientific classification of the wolf. With a weaker genetic link to the Canis genus, may need to be transferred to the genus itself. But even if that happens, there’s a good chance we’ll still refer to them as “wolves” in sharp conversation – as we do with koala bears, electric eels, and other animals with deceptive monikers.
[h/t Scientific American]