{
  "abstract": "Dire wolves (Aenocyon dirus) are extinct predators of Pleistocene North America. Although phenotypically similar to living wolves (Canis lupus), dire wolves have yet to be placed confidently in the canid family tree. We generated 3.4× and 12.8× paleogenomes from two well-preserved dire wolves dating to >13,000 and >72,000 years ago and estimated consensus species trees for these and 10 canid species. Our results revealed that ∼2/3 of dire wolf ancestry is most likely derived from a lineage sister to the clade comprising the gray wolf, coyote, and dhole and the remaining ∼1/3 from a lineage near the base of Canini diversity. Our results underscore the power of paleogenomes to resolve long-standing taxonomic questions and contribute to growing evidence of the role of post-speciation gene flow as an evolutionary force.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Colossal Biosciences, Dallas, TX, USA; Form Bio, Dallas, TX, USA",
    "Colossal Biosciences, Dallas, TX, USA",
    "Colossal Biosciences, Dallas, TX, USA; Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA",
    "Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA",
    "Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA",
    "Form Bio, Dallas, TX, USA",
    "Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA",
    "Colossal Biosciences, Dallas, TX, USA; Form Bio, Dallas, TX, USA; Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA",
    "Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA",
    "Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark",
    "Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA; Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA",
    "Idaho Museum of Natural History & Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA",
    "Chronicle Heritage, Phoenix, AZ, USA",
    "Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark",
    "Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK",
    "Anatomy Department, Des Moines University, West Des Moines, IA, USA",
    "Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden",
    "Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA",
    "Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; University Museum, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway",
    "Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Genomics and Computational Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA",
    "Fevre River Packet Co, Santa Fe, NM, USA",
    "Colossal Biosciences, Dallas, TX, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Wyss Institute, Boston, MA, USA",
    "Colossal Biosciences, Dallas, TX, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA. Electronic address: beth@colossal.com"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 40,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Gregory L. Gedman",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6819-2019"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Kathleen M. Morrill",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9139-453X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jonas Oppenheimer",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7973-6173"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Chaz Hyseni",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2567-8013"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Molly Cassatt‐Johnstone",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7278-8333"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Alexander G. Lucaci",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4896-6088"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Nicolas M. Alexandre",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1530-1570"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "William Troy",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7906-0887"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "J. Chris Chao",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-9150-2939"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Olivier D. Fedrigo",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6450-7551"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Savannah J. Hoyt",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7804-3236"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Patrick G. S. Grady",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0180-7810"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Sam Sacco",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1227-8934"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "William Seligmann",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5762-3095"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Ayusman Dash",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1394-3174"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Mithil Chokshi",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-6672-3470"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Laura Knecht"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "James B. Papizan",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4257-6246"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tyler Miyawaki"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Sven Bocklandt"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "James Kelher"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Sara Ord",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-1630-0803"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Shyam Gopalakrishnan",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2004-6810"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Audrey T. Lin",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2505-1480"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Brandon R. Peecook",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0566-1487"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Angela R. Perri",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4349-1060"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13
      ],
      "name": "Mikkel‐Holger S. Sinding",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1371-219X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        14
      ],
      "name": "Greger Larson",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4092-0392"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15
      ],
      "name": "Julie Meachen",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2526-2045"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        16
      ],
      "name": "Love Dalén",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8270-7613"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        17
      ],
      "name": "Bridgett M. vonHoldt",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6908-1687"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        18
      ],
      "name": "Marcus Thomas P. Gilbert",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5805-7195"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Christopher E. Mason",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1850-1642"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Rachel J. Waugh O'Neill",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1525-6821"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        19
      ],
      "name": "Elinor K. Karlsson",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4343-3776"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Brandi L. Cantarel",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4126-4478"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        20
      ],
      "name": "George R. Martin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        21
      ],
      "name": "George McDonald Church",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3535-2076"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Ben Lamm"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        22
      ],
      "name": "Beth Shapiro",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2733-7776"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bh8h7mvbm6qa1.bib",
  "cited_by": 14,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "bh8h7mvbm6qa1",
  "issns": [
    "2666-979X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1911|Evolution and Paleontology Studies"
    ]
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  "openalex": "W4409351565",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13477035",
  "pmid": "42508403",
  "published": "2026-07-27",
  "publisher": "Elsevier BV",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bh8h7mvbm6qa1.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:26:57Z",
      "native_id": "W4409351565",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101306"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1911|Evolution and Paleontology Studies",
      "subfield": "evolutionary-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf",
  "title_text": "On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:19Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bh8h7mvbm6qa1",
  "venue": "Cell Genomics",
  "versions": []
}