On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf

Gregory L. Gedman; Kathleen Morrill Pirovich; Jonas Oppenheimer; Chaz Hyseni; Molly Cassatt-Johnstone; Alexander G. Lucaci; Nicolas Alexandre; William Troy; J. Chris Chao; Olivier Fedrigo; Savannah J. Hoyt; Patrick G.S. Grady; Sam Sacco; William Seligmann; Ayusman Dash; Mithil Chokshi; Laura Knecht; James B. Papizan; Tyler Miyawaki; Sven Bocklandt; James Kelher; Sara Ord; Shyam Gopalakrishnan; Audrey T. Lin; Brandon R. Peecook; Angela Perri; Mikkel Holger S. Sinding; Greger Larson; Julie Meachen; Love Dalén; Bridgett vonHoldt; M. Thomas; Christopher E. Mason; Rachel J. O'Neill; Elinor K. Karlsson; Brandi L. Cantarel; George R.R. Martin; George Church; Ben Lamm; Beth Shapiro

doi:10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306

On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf

Gregory L. Gedman
, Kathleen Morrill Pirovich
, Jonas Oppenheimer
, Chaz Hyseni
, Molly Cassatt-Johnstone
, Alexander G. Lucaci
, Nicolas Alexandre
, William Troy
, J. Chris Chao
, Olivier Fedrigo
, Savannah J. Hoyt
, Patrick G.S. Grady
, Sam Sacco
, William Seligmann
, Ayusman Dash
, Mithil Chokshi
, Laura Knecht
, James B. Papizan
, Tyler Miyawaki
, Sven Bocklandt

James Kelher, Sara Ord, Shyam Gopalakrishnan, Audrey T. Lin, Brandon R. Peecook, Angela Perri, Mikkel Holger S. Sinding, Greger Larson, Julie Meachen, Love Dalén, Bridgett vonHoldt, M. Thomas, Christopher E. Mason, Rachel J. O'Neill, Elinor K. Karlsson, Brandi L. Cantarel, George R.R. Martin, George Church, Ben Lamm, Beth Shapiro

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

Dire wolves ( Aenocyon dirus ) are extinct predators of Pleistocene North America. Although phenotypically similar to living wolves ( Canis lupus ), dire wolves have yet to be placed confidently in the canid family tree. We generated 3.4× and 12.8× paleogenomes from two well-preserved dire wolves dating to >13,000 and >72,000 years ago and estimated consensus species trees for these and 10 canid species. Our results revealed that ∼2/3 of dire wolf ancestry is most likely derived from a lineage sister to the clade comprising the gray wolf, coyote, and dhole and the remaining ∼1/3 from a lineage near the base of Canini diversity. Our results underscore the power of paleogenomes to resolve long-standing taxonomic questions and contribute to growing evidence of the role of post-speciation gene flow as an evolutionary force.

Original language	English
Article number	101306
Journal	Cell Genomics
Volume	6
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306
Publication status	Published - 12 Aug 2026

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

106013 Genetics
106014 Genomics
106012 Evolutionary research

Keywords

admixture
ancient DNA
canid
dire wolf
evolution
paleogenomics
pangenomics

Access to Document

10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306

Cite this

Gedman, G. L., Pirovich, K. M., Oppenheimer, J., Hyseni, C., Cassatt-Johnstone, M., Lucaci, A. G., Alexandre, N., Troy, W., Chao, J. C., Fedrigo, O., Hoyt, S. J., Grady, P. G. S., Sacco, S., Seligmann, W., Dash, A., Chokshi, M., Knecht, L., Papizan, J. B., Miyawaki, T., ... Shapiro, B. (2026). On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf. Cell Genomics, 6(8), Article 101306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306

@article{f1f86ff1c35946f88f7045cae6f95909,

title = "On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf",

abstract = "Dire wolves ( Aenocyon dirus ) are extinct predators of Pleistocene North America. Although phenotypically similar to living wolves ( Canis lupus ), dire wolves have yet to be placed confidently in the canid family tree. We generated 3.4{\texttimes} and 12.8{\texttimes} paleogenomes from two well-preserved dire wolves dating to >13,000 and >72,000 years ago and estimated consensus species trees for these and 10 canid species. Our results revealed that ∼2/3 of dire wolf ancestry is most likely derived from a lineage sister to the clade comprising the gray wolf, coyote, and dhole and the remaining ∼1/3 from a lineage near the base of Canini diversity. Our results underscore the power of paleogenomes to resolve long-standing taxonomic questions and contribute to growing evidence of the role of post-speciation gene flow as an evolutionary force.",

keywords = "admixture, ancient DNA, canid, dire wolf, evolution, paleogenomics, pangenomics",

author = "Gedman, \{Gregory L.\} and Pirovich, \{Kathleen Morrill\} and Jonas Oppenheimer and Chaz Hyseni and Molly Cassatt-Johnstone and Lucaci, \{Alexander G.\} and Nicolas Alexandre and William Troy and Chao, \{J. Chris\} and Olivier Fedrigo and Hoyt, \{Savannah J.\} and Grady, \{Patrick G.S.\} and Sam Sacco and William Seligmann and Ayusman Dash and Mithil Chokshi and Laura Knecht and Papizan, \{James B.\} and Tyler Miyawaki and Sven Bocklandt and James Kelher and Sara Ord and Shyam Gopalakrishnan and Lin, \{Audrey T.\} and Peecook, \{Brandon R.\} and Angela Perri and Sinding, \{Mikkel Holger S.\} and Greger Larson and Julie Meachen and Love Dal{\'e}n and Bridgett vonHoldt and M. Thomas and Mason, \{Christopher E.\} and O'Neill, \{Rachel J.\} and Karlsson, \{Elinor K.\} and Cantarel, \{Brandi L.\} and Martin, \{George R.R.\} and George Church and Ben Lamm and Beth Shapiro",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 The Authors.",

year = "2026",

month = aug,

day = "12",

doi = "10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

journal = "Cell Genomics",

issn = "2666-979X",

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Gedman, GL, Pirovich, KM, Oppenheimer, J, Hyseni, C, Cassatt-Johnstone, M, Lucaci, AG, Alexandre, N, Troy, W, Chao, JC, Fedrigo, O, Hoyt, SJ, Grady, PGS, Sacco, S, Seligmann, W, Dash, A, Chokshi, M, Knecht, L, Papizan, JB, Miyawaki, T, Bocklandt, S, Kelher, J, Ord, S, Gopalakrishnan, S, Lin, AT, Peecook, BR, Perri, A, Sinding, MHS, Larson, G, Meachen, J, Dalén, L, vonHoldt, B, Thomas, M, Mason, CE, O'Neill, RJ, Karlsson, EK, Cantarel, BL, Martin, GRR, Church, G, Lamm, B & Shapiro, B 2026, 'On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf', Cell Genomics, vol. 6, no. 8, 101306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306

TY - JOUR

T1 - On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf

AU - Gedman, Gregory L.

AU - Pirovich, Kathleen Morrill

AU - Oppenheimer, Jonas

AU - Hyseni, Chaz

AU - Cassatt-Johnstone, Molly

AU - Lucaci, Alexander G.

AU - Alexandre, Nicolas

AU - Troy, William

AU - Chao, J. Chris

AU - Fedrigo, Olivier

AU - Hoyt, Savannah J.

AU - Grady, Patrick G.S.

AU - Sacco, Sam

AU - Seligmann, William

AU - Dash, Ayusman

AU - Chokshi, Mithil

AU - Knecht, Laura

AU - Papizan, James B.

AU - Miyawaki, Tyler

AU - Bocklandt, Sven

AU - Kelher, James

AU - Ord, Sara

AU - Gopalakrishnan, Shyam

AU - Lin, Audrey T.

AU - Peecook, Brandon R.

AU - Perri, Angela

AU - Sinding, Mikkel Holger S.

AU - Larson, Greger

AU - Meachen, Julie

AU - Dalén, Love

AU - vonHoldt, Bridgett

AU - Thomas, M.

AU - Mason, Christopher E.

AU - O'Neill, Rachel J.

AU - Karlsson, Elinor K.

AU - Cantarel, Brandi L.

AU - Martin, George R.R.

AU - Church, George

AU - Lamm, Ben

AU - Shapiro, Beth

PY - 2026/8/12

Y1 - 2026/8/12

N2 - Dire wolves ( Aenocyon dirus ) are extinct predators of Pleistocene North America. Although phenotypically similar to living wolves ( Canis lupus ), dire wolves have yet to be placed confidently in the canid family tree. We generated 3.4× and 12.8× paleogenomes from two well-preserved dire wolves dating to >13,000 and >72,000 years ago and estimated consensus species trees for these and 10 canid species. Our results revealed that ∼2/3 of dire wolf ancestry is most likely derived from a lineage sister to the clade comprising the gray wolf, coyote, and dhole and the remaining ∼1/3 from a lineage near the base of Canini diversity. Our results underscore the power of paleogenomes to resolve long-standing taxonomic questions and contribute to growing evidence of the role of post-speciation gene flow as an evolutionary force.

AB - Dire wolves ( Aenocyon dirus ) are extinct predators of Pleistocene North America. Although phenotypically similar to living wolves ( Canis lupus ), dire wolves have yet to be placed confidently in the canid family tree. We generated 3.4× and 12.8× paleogenomes from two well-preserved dire wolves dating to >13,000 and >72,000 years ago and estimated consensus species trees for these and 10 canid species. Our results revealed that ∼2/3 of dire wolf ancestry is most likely derived from a lineage sister to the clade comprising the gray wolf, coyote, and dhole and the remaining ∼1/3 from a lineage near the base of Canini diversity. Our results underscore the power of paleogenomes to resolve long-standing taxonomic questions and contribute to growing evidence of the role of post-speciation gene flow as an evolutionary force.

KW - admixture

KW - ancient DNA

KW - canid

KW - dire wolf

KW - evolution

KW - paleogenomics

KW - pangenomics

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105045619297

U2 - 10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306

DO - 10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105045619297

SN - 2666-979X

VL - 6

JO - Cell Genomics

JF - Cell Genomics

IS - 8

M1 - 101306

ER -

On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf

Abstract

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

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