Aenocyon dirus & Canis lupus

Couldnt resist illustrating the dire wolf after the recent study on its phylogeny. Basically, it is no longer considered a sister species to the gray wolf, in fact it is an early divergent lineage within the Canina tribe (jackals, dholes, lycaons, wolves and dogs, coyotes...) and it has been reclassified as Aenocyon dirus. Still, I based the reconstruction mainly on modern wolves since they are the best analogue for its anatomy, prefered prey and hunting style, and socialization. In the text I explain how both dire wolves and the biggest, more robust varieties of gray wolf dissapeared in the Pleistocene-Holocene massive big vertebrate extinction, and only the modern wolf morphotypes, gracile and fast, could live off small-medium sized prey and even berries on season, so they thrived. Until the intervention of fire weapons for hunting, that is.