https://www.europesays.com/uk/15911/ What does the dire wolf ‘de-extinction’ mean for bringing back Tasmanian tigers? #cloning #DeExtincting #DireWolf #DireWolves #DNA #ExtinctSpecies #Genes #Genetics #GenomicSequencing #Science #TasmanianTiger #Thylacine #UK #UnitedKingdom #What'sATasmanianTiger? #wildlife
They Didn't Make Dire Wolves, They Made Something…Else
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar0zgedLyTw
I feel like this video is an important one to share. I'm glad he also shed some light on the importance of publicly funded research, people don't seem to realize just how much of the science that comes out of private companies are built on studies from academia.
In case you hadn't heard, this is more Elizabeth Holmes "Pleez give me more VC money" nonsense than anything to do with actual science.
It seems that @rebeccawatson and I are roughly equally tired of living in the timeline where everything that looks cool and/or like a good news story is booby trapped with some kind of disgusting late stage capitalism bullshit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWs55JOS-fg #DireWolves #science #capitalism
Pound sand, @Slate
If we're stuck living in a dystopian maga hellscape just let us have fucking dire wolves, wouldja? If it brings about the end times, so be it
#dumbheadlines #DireWolves
I remain utterly baffled by which direction the #DireWolves clusterfuck is falling. Yeah I get that it's PR from a company trying to do Jurassic Spa in the same way Musk is trying to do Terminator 13: Torment Nexus Gonna Be Siiiiiick or whatever, and you can't trust a word out of their mouths. But what exactly went wrong?
I ask because I thought we'd concluded that dire wolves WERE NOT WOLVES: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dire-wolves-were-not-really-wolves-new-genetic-clues-reveal/
So when people say "Nah, these aren't dire wolves, they're just normal wolves bred from dogs." I have to raise a hand and ask wait wait are they? Because that's pretty astonishing if true. And if it's just a breed of dog they've produced, then isn't that what we already agreed dire wolves actually were? Maybe they're still not dire wolves, but why claim they're actual wolves?
I feel like everyone is lying to cover something up, and the lies all betray core misunderstandings about absolutely everything, in conflicting interference patterns.
Colossal Biosciences claims to have revived the dire wolf, but experts argue the result is more marketing than resurrection—a genetically modified gray wolf dressed in Ice Age myth and hype. Sadly, we’ll still need asteroids.
https://wildhunt.org/2025/04/a-game-of-clones-the-resurrection-of-the-dire-wolf.html
my thing on the #colossal #direwolves WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR #PALEOART? obviously until that dire wolf genome is released to the public (something colossal said they would do) and is analyzed by proper scientists, and assuming what they find matches with what colossal has said (which certainly isn't a guarantee) should dire wolves be depicted in a way similar to the colossal specimens- mostly the thick white fur (more on that)
Pepper and I are enjoying the controversy over whether Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi are dire wolves or not, because it's resulting in a lot of news articles with pictures of nice dogs.
It's also raising awareness about
• Roman mythology
• is-a versus has-a relationships
• and grey wolves generally, which we like
One thing's for sure. Pepper is not a Dingo.
What the heck is a dhole? Today-I-Learned…
Q. So, a dire wolf is an extinct species of wolf?
A. Grey wolves and dire wolves were thought to be very closely related based on their physical similarities, but a 2021 study of ancient DNA revealed that they last shared a common ancestor around 6 million years ago. Jackals, African wild dogs and dholes are all more closely related to grey wolves (Canis lupus) than dire wolves are, despite their similar appearances.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2475407-no-the-dire-wolf-has-not-been-brought-back-from-extinction/
Visit the tar pits in Los Angeles.
https://tarpits.org/experience-tar-pits/la-brea-tar-pits-and-hancock-park
'The pups certainly look like many people's vision of a dire wolf and the story has gathered global attention. So why is this scientific distinction important?
'"Because extinction is still forever," Dr Rawlence told BBC News. "If we don't have extinction, how are we going to learn from our mistakes?'
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g9ejy3gdvo
Why not stop killing existing wolves?
That said, these little balls of fur sure are cute.
Just stay out of the tar pits this time!
"Much of the dire wolves’ behavior reminded me of dogs’. Romulus and Remus rested on their haunches in the sun. They chased falling leaves; they chewed sticks. One peed, and the other hurried over to roll in it. Other aspects seemed wolflike—when Romulus got nervous, he did a sideways slide while facing us. (James explained to me that this maneuver is a way to both check out a threat and look as large as possible.) And, when the wolves ran, they loped as if their lower legs had an extra joint. They didn’t howl, and their footfalls were silent. Was this distinctive dire-wolf behavior? How could anyone say?"
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/14/the-dire-wolf-is-back
I saw various news bits about the "de-extinction" of #direwolves by adding ancient firewood DNA to grey wolf DNA. In one, they said that direwolves were as genetically apart from grey wolves as chimpanzees from humans. And that kind of gives a different perspective on the story as well: would we be celebrating or would we be horrified if a company genetically engineered chimp-human chimeras?
@da_667 Everything’s funny until someone loses an eye. To #direWolves!
And it was another fine night out for a show last night with #DireWolves at the #MakeOutRoom here in SF -- long zoney and great psych jams? But of course. Credit also to Graffiti Phallico aka members of the #Mystic-100s up from LA for their opening set. #music
I haven’t tried to make / paint Warhammer for about 24 years. Pretty sure this isn’t going to go well. 
Ancient DNA reveals secret of dire wolves.
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/01/ancient-dna-reveals-secrets-of-dire-wolves/136780
