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Prehistoric Life

How long was a dire wolf?

An adult dire wolf had a total length of about 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in).

What is measured: adult, total body length

Dire wolf (1.8 m) drawn to scale beside an adult person (1.7 m) and a doorway (2 m)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Adult person (1.7 m), Dire wolf (1.8 m) and Doorway (2 m).

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How big is that, really?

  • About the height of an adult person
  • About 3 would fit end to end along a 20-foot shipping container
  • About the height of a doorway
  • About 6 would fit end to end along a city bus
  • About 4.7× the height of a bowling pin

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Facts about Dire wolf

Dire wolves lived across North and South America and had more robust skulls and teeth than modern gray wolves.

Source: La Brea Tar Pits — Dire Wolf; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Dire Wolf

Prehistoric Life

NameSizeCompared with Dire wolf
Neanderthal1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)0.92×
Dimetrodon grandis1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)0.94×
Homo erectus1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)0.94×
Gastornis gigantea1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)same size
Coelodonta antiquitatis1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)same size
Rhamphorhynchus muensteri1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)same size
Dire wolf1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)this page
Protoceratops andrewsi2 m (6 ft 7 in)1.1×
Castoroides ohioensis2 m (6 ft 7 in)1.1×
Elasmotherium sibiricum2 m (6 ft 7 in)1.1×

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