Canis dirus. Computer illustration and photo-reconstruction of the extinct dire wolf Canis dirus. Canis dirus or dire wolf is an extinct species of the genus Canis and one of the most famous prehistoric carnivores in North America. The dire wolf was not surprisingly huge, like some Ice Age mammals. At most it was only a little bigger than the modern gray wolf, about 152 to 182 cm long from its nose to the tip of its tail. The heaviest male may have weighed 80 kg. The dire wolf was actually smaller than the gray wolf in one respect: it had a smaller brain. Dire wolves lived during the Ice Age and shared North America with a variety of animals (125.000 - 9.500 years ago). The largest collection of its fossils has been obtained from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.