The Paleobiology Database

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Relationships
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	Map	Age range and collections

Canis dirus (dire wolf)

Taxonomy

Canis dirus was named by Leidy (1858).

It was recombined as Aenocyon dirus by Merriam (1918), Hibbard (1949) and Hibbard and Taylor (1960).

Sister species lacking formal opinion data

Synonyms

Canis ayersi was named by Sellards (1916).

It was recombined as Aenocyon ayersi by Merriam (1918); it was synonymized subjectively with Canis dirus by Lundelius (1972), Martin (1974), Nowak (1979), Kurten and Anderson (1980) and Kurten (1984).
Canis indianensis was named by Leidy (1869).

It was synonymized subjectively with Canis dirus by Troxell (1915), Nowak (1979), Kurten and Anderson (1980) and Kurten (1984).
Canis mississippiensis was named by Allen (1876).

It was synonymized subjectively with Canis dirus by Nowak (1979), Kurten and Anderson (1980) and Kurten (1984).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1858	Canis dirus Leidy
1869	Canis indianensis Leidy
1876	Canis mississippiensis Allen
1916	Canis ayersi Sellards
1918	Aenocyon ayersi Merriam
1918	Aenocyon dirus Merriam
1931	Canis dirus Elftman p. 5
1940	Canis dirus Olson p. 42
1940	Canis ayersi Olson p. 44
1946	Canis dirus Stock and et al.
1949	Aenocyon dirus Hibbard
1960	Aenocyon dirus Hibbard and Taylor
1966	Canis dirus Slaughter p. 481
1972	Canis dirus Kurten and Anderson
1972	Canis dirus Lundelius, Jr.
1974	Canis dirus Martin
1979	Canis dirus Nowak
1980	Canis dirus Kurten and Anderson
1984	Canis dirus Kurten
1988	Canis dirus Berta

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