section_path: Current candidate species for de-extinction/Dire wolf
section_name: Dire wolf
paragraph_text: Dire wolf
  
  There have been attempts to recreate the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus) in modern times. The first is a project called the Dire Wolf Project, a project begun in 1988 that aims to revive the species through backbreeding of domestic dogs, similar to the Quagga project. However, this project is not based in scientific method.
  
  In April 2025, it was announced that Colossal Biosciences used cloning and gene-editing to birth three genetically modified wolf pups with the characteristics of the dire wolf: six-month-old males Romulus and Remus and two-month-old female Khaleesi. In-house scientists at Colossal analyzed the dire wolf genome, extracted from two ancient samples – a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old ear bone. After comparing the genomes of gray wolves and dire wolves to identify the genetic differences responsible for the dire wolf's distinctive features, Colossal made edits to the genetic code of the gray wolf to replicate those traits. Domestic dogs were used as surrogate mothers for the pups. Colossal claims that these minor genetic modifications effectively revive dire wolves as a species, though "no ancient dire wolf DNA was actually spliced into the gray wolf's genome".