10,000 Years Later: Scientists “De-Extinct” Dire Wolf

This moment marks not only a milestone for us as a company but also a leap forward for science, conservation, and humanity.

Colossal Biosciences on X about how the company was able to resurrect the dire wolf, which went extinct over 10,000 years ago.

Why It Matters: Dallas-based company Colossal Biosciences used DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old ear bone to figure out the genome of dire wolves to create dire wolf pups, according to Ben Lamm, Colossal’s co-founder and CEO. Two were born in October 2024, but the company just released information and footage of the six-month-old pups.

• Dire wolf fossils have been found in America and Canada and as far south as Venezuela.
• Domestic dogs were used as surrogate mothers in order to bring three dire wolves back into the world last fall and this winter.
• The six-month-old dire wolves are roughly four feet long, weigh 80 pounds and could grow to 150 pounds. They are living in a undisclosed, fenced location in the U.S.
• Recently, the company created a woolly mouse using mammoth DNA. “This is only the beginning,” Colossal Biosciences said.
• Critics remain skeptical that these pups resemble actual dire wolves. And Professor Vincent Lynch from the University at Buffalo says we do not have the ability to fully de-extinct a species, noting “All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else.”

Read More: The Return Of The Dire Wolf (Time)

CEO and Founder of Colossal on Joe Rogan (Spotify)

Image Credit: Colossal Biosciences