Game of Thrones' Dire Wolves Existed, But May Not Have Been Wolves - Mental Floss

Until recently, it was widely believed that the dire wolf (Canis dirus) was essentially a more muscular relative of the gray wolf (Canis lupus), partially because their skeletons look so similar.

After comparing the dire wolf sequences to ones from gray wolves and several other canids, the researchers discovered that dire wolves and gray wolves diverged genetically from their common ancestor about 5.7 million years ago.

Based on these findings, it’s possible that dire wolves spent millions of years evolving in the Americas—far separated from the gray wolves back in Eurasia.