Scientists Have Brought Back Dire Wolves From Extinction After 10,000 Years

Hands up, I genuinely thought dire wolves were a fictional animal invented by George RR Martin for Game of Thrones, until this morning when I read the news. Turns out they were very real and very awesome before going extinct 10,000 years ago, but a genetic engineering company has now brought them back into existence.

Colossal Biosciences, who are the company also working on bringing back the woolly mammoth, revealed the recent successful birth of three dire wolf puppies, which is a HUGE step in proving the legitimacy of “de-extinction technologies” and the potential to bring back other species. Here’s a first look at two of the pups:

Dire Wolf siblings, Romulus and Remus, howling. The first time for the species in over 10,000 years 🐺 pic.twitter.com/ilV9nNO0Qj

— westerosies (@westerosies) April 7, 2025

Winter is officially back! The birth of the dire wolf pups marks the first successfully de-extincted animal, says Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm:

“Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”

Romulus and Remus, now six months old, were joined by a female dire wolf, Khaleesi, who was born in January. All three pups are going to be incredible specimens once they’re done growing:

About 25% larger than modern-day gray wolves, dire wolves had thicker, more muscular legs, more powerful shoulders, a wider head and snout with larger jaws and teeth. The dire wolf stood about 3½ feet tall and could be even longer than 6 feet and weigh up to 150 pounds.

Now obviously there are people who are really worried about this and think it could lead to a Jurassic Park-style situation, but it looks like humanity is headed down the toilet anyway, so why not bring back some of the classic beasts from our past to speed things up a little bit? Never mind just stopping at dire wolves or woolly mammoths, bring back an actual T-Rex and see what happens. Would be interesting to watch whether AI or the dinosaurs wipe us out first. Better yet – how about Jurassic Park run by AI? Now that could get interesting.

Colossal CEO Ben Lamm spoke about this all with Joe Rogan last night – check out the clip below: