Giant Dogs in Prehistoric Times?

Factual Questions
1

Were there any prehistoric canids that were significantly bigger than today’s wolves?

2

Yep. There are fossils from the Caledonian era (nine to twelve million years ago) which belong to a bear-sized canid. It is thought to have been omnivorous, although mainly carnivorous, and had as part of its diet, small predecessors to the modern horse.

3

Here’s a CGI model of what the species is believed to have looked like.

4

That fellow being Epicyon haydeni.

5

Dire wolves were more thickly built than Canis lupus, but not necessarily heavier. So *Canis dirus * wasn’t a giant prehistoric dog.

6

Otherwise known as Canis bedrockensis.

7

Jaysus, and I fell for that… :smiley:

8

Linky Poo

9

It’s a cynic hoax. :wink:

10

aaaaarrrrrgh

11

So why did they die out?

12

You die, they die, everybody dies. There aren’t many species that survive 9 million years. It would be more surprising to find them still around.

13

Thanks for the replies. I enjoyed seeing the information and pictures of Epicyon. I had heard of Dire Wolves before (but had forgotten about them, due to encroaching senility!), but this was a totally new beast for me! Fascinating!