Dire wolves prowled the Earth around 300,000 years ago, but thanks to fossil records—and Game of Thrones—their legend lives on. | National Geographic

WATCH: FIRST DIRE WOLF HOWL AFTER OVER 10,000 YEARS 🐺 Colossal Biosciences gives a glimpse of the first howl of a dire wolf in over 10,000 years as they reveal the world’s first de-extinct animals Romulus and Remus, who were born on October 1, 2024. “These two wolves were brought back from extinction using genetic edits derived from a complete dire wolf genome, meticulously reconstructed by Colossal from ancient DNA found in fossils dating back 11,500 and 72,000 years,” according to the America

Scientists bring back dire wolves after 12,500 years of extinction. Colossal Biosciences has produced three dire wolf pups—two males and one female—using gene editing, cloning, and ancient DNA from fossils dated 13,000 to 72,000 years old. By editing 14 genes in gray wolf cells to match dire wolf traits like thick fur, stronger jaws, and broader skulls, scientists recreated the dire wolf phenotype. The embryos were implanted into domestic dogs. The pups, born in late 2024 and early 2025, now liv