Science & Technology

Extinct dire wolves brought back to life in incredible world-first

By T.K. Randall
April 8, 2025 ·  58 comments

The first living dire wolves in 10,000 years. Image Credit: Colossal Biosciences / Twitter In news that seems to have come out of nowhere, Texas-based firm Colossal Biosciences has revealed that it has succeeded in bringing dire wolves back from extinction, making this the first time that any extinct species has been resurrected using modern 'de-extinction' techniques.

In a video, the firm introduced the world to Romulus and Remus - two dire wolf pups - while celebrating the fact that this was the first time anyone had heard a dire wolf howl in 10,000 years.

Made famous by Game of Thrones, dire wolves were a particularly large species of wolf, (though they never grew to the size of the wolves seen in the show).

To bring them back to life, scientists used cloning and gene-editing techniques.

"This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works," said Colossal's chief executive Ben Lamm.

"Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies.""It was once said, 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'. Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation."

The big question is - what's next ?

If it is possible to bring dire wolves back from the dead, it should also be possible to resurrect woolly mammoths, thylacines, saber-toothed tigers and more besides.

While bringing back the dinosaurs is still beyond the abilities of science, creating a park filled with resurrected prehistoric mammal species could now be a very real possibility.

You can check out the video of the dire wolf pups for yourself below.

SOUND ON. You're hearing the first howl of a dire wolf in over 10,000 years. Meet Romulus and Remus-the world's first de-extinct animals, born on October 1, 2024.

The dire wolf has been extinct for over 10,000 years. These two wolves were brought back from extinction using... pic.twitter.com/wY4rdOVFRH

- Colossal Biosciences® (@colossal) April 7, 2025

Source: Independent | Comments (58)

Tags: Dire Wolf