Yorkshire at forefront of revealing ancient DNA secrets of Game of Thrones wolves

For the first time ancient DNA has been taken from dire wolves revealing a complex history of these ice age predators.

Dire wolves - oversized, extra-powerful wolves, made famous in the popular fantasy show TV show Game of Thrones, were common across North America until around 13,000 years ago, after which they went extinct.

Known scientifically as Canis dirus, meaning ’fearsome dog’, they would prey on large mammals like bison.

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Pictured, somewhere in Southwestern North America during the late Pleistocene, a pack of dire wolves (Canis dirus) are feeding on their bison kill, while a pair of grey wolves (Canis lupus) approach in the hopes of scavenging. One of the dire wolves rushes in to confront the grey wolves, and their confrontation allows a comparison of the bigger, larger-headed and reddish-brown dire wolf with its smaller, grey relative. Artwork credit: Mauricio Antón/NaturePictured, somewhere in Southwestern North America during the late Pleistocene, a pack of dire wolves (Canis dirus) are feeding on their bison kill, while a pair of grey wolves (Canis lupus) approach in the hopes of scavenging. One of the dire wolves rushes in to confront the grey wolves, and their confrontation allows a comparison of the bigger, larger-headed and reddish-brown dire wolf with its smaller, grey relative. Artwork credit: Mauricio Antón/Nature
Pictured, somewhere in Southwestern North America during the late Pleistocene, a pack of dire wolves (Canis dirus) are feeding on their bison kill, while a pair of grey wolves (Canis lupus) approach in the hopes of scavenging. One of the dire wolves rushes in to confront the grey wolves, and their confrontation allows a comparison of the bigger, larger-headed and reddish-brown dire wolf with its smaller, grey relative. Artwork credit: Mauricio Antón/Nature
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In a new study – involving analysis from the University of York - it has revealed extinct dire wolves split off from other canines nearly six million years ago and were only a distant relative of today’s species.

It shows dire wolves were so different from other canine species, like coyotes and grey wolves, that they were not able to breed with each other - disputing previous research which led scientists to believe that dire wolves were closely related to grey wolves.

As part of the project an international team of scientists sequenced the ancient DNA of five dire wolf sub-fossils dating back to over 50,000 years ago.

Results showed that dire wolves and grey wolves were in fact very distant cousins.

Dire wolves - oversized, extra-powerful wolves, have been made famous in the popular fantasy show TV show Game of Thrones Pictured, William Mulhall from Co Down in Northern Ireland with Thor (left) and Odin, two Northern Inuit dogs he owns which played 'dire wolves' in the hit HBO fantasy drama, Game Of Thrones. Photo credit: Liam McBurney/PA WireDire wolves - oversized, extra-powerful wolves, have been made famous in the popular fantasy show TV show Game of Thrones Pictured, William Mulhall from Co Down in Northern Ireland with Thor (left) and Odin, two Northern Inuit dogs he owns which played 'dire wolves' in the hit HBO fantasy drama, Game Of Thrones. Photo credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Dire wolves - oversized, extra-powerful wolves, have been made famous in the popular fantasy show TV show Game of Thrones Pictured, William Mulhall from Co Down in Northern Ireland with Thor (left) and Odin, two Northern Inuit dogs he owns which played 'dire wolves' in the hit HBO fantasy drama, Game Of Thrones. Photo credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
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Dr Sam Presslee, from the Department of Archaeology, at the University of York, helped to identify the lineage of the dire wolf specimen found at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits, in Los Angeles.

"It was exciting to be able to collaborate with this ancient DNA project and contribute to learning more about these fantastic creatures," Dr Presslee said.

Due to degradation, ancient DNA was not able to be recovered from this specimen, but using proteomics - which is a study of the proteins - Dr Presslee was able to gain good coverage of the protein collagen - which is the main protein in bone - for analysis.

She said: "The protein analysis was able to provide another line of evidence to show the true lineage of these animals.

Pictured, Dr Sam Presslee, from the Department of Archaeology, at the University of York. Photo credit: Submitted picturePictured, Dr Sam Presslee, from the Department of Archaeology, at the University of York. Photo credit: Submitted picture
Pictured, Dr Sam Presslee, from the Department of Archaeology, at the University of York. Photo credit: Submitted picture
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"I don't think anyone could have predicted just how unique these wolves really were."

Researchers analysed the genomes of dire wolves alongside those of many different wolf-like canid species.

Results showed that unlike many canid species who apparently migrated repeatedly between North America and Eurasia over time, dire wolves evolved solely in North America for millions of years.

Although dire wolves overlapped with coyotes and grey wolves in North America for at least 10,000 years before their extinction, they found no evidence that they interbred with these species.

Dire wolves - oversized, extra-powerful wolves, have been made famous in the popular fantasy show TV show Game of Thrones. Photo credit: PADire wolves - oversized, extra-powerful wolves, have been made famous in the popular fantasy show TV show Game of Thrones. Photo credit: PA
Dire wolves - oversized, extra-powerful wolves, have been made famous in the popular fantasy show TV show Game of Thrones. Photo credit: PA
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The research found that their deep evolutionary differences meant that they were likely ill equipped to adapt to changing conditions at the end of the ice age.

Dr Presslee said: "When this sequence was compared to other canis collagen sequences, the results were in agreement with the ancient DNA results, that Dire Wolves were not closely related to other North American canids. "

Reflecting on the first ancient DNA analysis of dire wolves, lead author of the study, Dr Angela Perri from Durham University’s Archaeology Department, said: "We have revealed that the history of dire wolves we thought we knew - particularly a close relationship to grey wolves - is actually much more complicated than we previously thought.

“Instead of being closely related to other North American canids, like grey wolves and coyotes, we found that dire wolves represent a branch that split off from others millions of years ago, representing the last of a now extinct lineage."

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Co-lead author, Dr Alice Mouton, from the University of California Los Angeles, added: “We show that the dire wolf never interbred with the grey wolf. In contrast, grey wolves, African wolves, dogs, coyotes and jackals can and do interbreed.

"Dire wolves likely diverged from grey wolves more than five million years ago, which was a great surprise that this divergence occurred so early. This finding highlights how special and unique the dire wolf was."

The research was led by Durham University in collaboration with scientists at the University of Oxford, Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany, the University of Adelaide in Australia and the University of California Los Angeles in the US.

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