The dire wolf (Canis dirus, "fearsome dog") was a prehistoric carnivore of the Western Hemisphere in the late Pleistocene Epoch (125,000–10,000 years ago). The extinct species probably evolved from Armbruster's wolf (Canis armbrusteri). The dire wolf was about the same size as the Yukon and Northwestern wolves, the largest modern gray wolves (Canis lupus). Its skull and dentition matched those of the gray wolf, but its teeth were larger with greater shearing ability, and its bite force at the canine tooth was the strongest of any known Canis species. These adaptations allowed it to hunt, probably in packs, for Late Pleistocene megaherbivores. In North America it competed with the sabre-toothed cat for prey including horses, sloths, mastodons, bison, and camels. Dire wolf remains have been found across a broad range of habitats including the plains, grasslands, and some forested mountain areas of North America, and in the arid savannah of South America. The largest collection of dire wolf fossils comes from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles; its latest remains date from 9,440 years ago.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_wolf
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
The Battle of Castillon, the last conflict of the Hundred Years' War, ended with the English losing all landholdings in France, except Calais. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Castillon
1771:
Dene men, acting as guides to Samuel Hearne on his exploration of the Coppermine River in present-day Nunavut, Canada, massacred a group of about 20 Copper Inuit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Falls_massacre
1918:
RMS Carpathia, which had rescued the survivors of the RMS Titanic sinking, was itself sunk by a German U-boat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia
1944:
Two ships laden with ammunition for World War II exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, killing 320 sailors and civilians, and injuring more than 400 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster
1992:
Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Manchester Metrolink, the first modern street running light rail system in the United Kingdom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Metrolink
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
unused: 1. (not comparable) Not used. 2. Not accustomed (to), unfamiliar with. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unused
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Of all the people who failed to buy one of my books today, the vast majority did so because they never heard of them, not because they got a free digital copy from the Internet. --Cory Doctorow https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow