Dire Wolf upper jaw.

[Worthy55]

This was found also in a river in Florida.

 

[Mosasaurfiend]

I like dire wolves. Now this will be showing my ignorance
but does dire mean? Where it was first found or a species?

 

[Harry Pristis]

I like dire wolves. Now this will be showing my ignorance
but does dire mean? Where it was first found or a species?

That is such an attractive specimen, Worthy -- you can be proud of that one!

"dirus" is from the Latin, and means the same as "dire" in English. Canis dirus means "dreadful dog."

 

[Mosasaurfiend]

Thanks, you know I find it curious that it translates
as (dreadful). Makes me wonder what trait they had that
led to that description. Wolves, from what I know, are
skilled hunters, and social within their packs. Maybe
they displayed different behavior at the time they were
being named.

You find some fantastic fossils, Worthy.....

 

[Harry Pristis]

Thanks, you know I find it curious that it translates
as (dreadful). Makes me wonder what trait they had that
led to that description. Wolves, from what I know, are
skilled hunters, and social within their packs. Maybe
they displayed different behavior at the time they were
being named.

You find some fantastic fossils, Worthy.....

Canis dirus was described in 1858 by Joseph Leidy. The type specimen is from the bank of the Ohio River below Evansville, Indiana.

I think it's safe to say that wolves did not enjoy a good reputation in 1858. Since the dire wolf is measurably larger than the gray wolf, Canis lupus, it's not hard to see why Leidy hit on the trivial name, "dirus."

 

[allen]

incredible find !!

 

[Sorroque]

Thanks, you know I find it curious that it translates
as (dreadful). Makes me wonder what trait they had that
led to that description. Wolves, from what I know, are
skilled hunters, and social within their packs. Maybe
they displayed different behavior at the time they were
being named.

You find some fantastic fossils, Worthy.....

Canis dirus was described in 1858 by Joseph Leidy. The type specimen is from the bank of the Ohio River below Evansville, Indiana.

I think it's safe to say that wolves did not enjoy a good reputation in 1858. Since the dire wolf is measurably larger than the gray wolf, Canis lupus, it's not hard to see why Leidy hit on the trivial name, "dirus."

Dire is a Tennessee ghost town .

 

[oldgoat]

Great find, Worthy

 

[naturegirl]

Oh Wow! I just posted some upper jaw teeth in "what is it". My teeth look so similar to these, just not that old, or big. This makes me think my teeth are wolf. Cool!

nature girl

 

[Harry Pristis]

Oh Wow! I just posted some upper jaw teeth in "what is it". My teeth look so similar to these, just not that old, or big. This makes me think my teeth are wolf. Cool!

nature girl

Wolf, dog, coyote . . . the differences are subtle . . . mostly size matters. Here are some coyote teeth for comparison.

​

 

[naturegirl]

Hi worthy, please forgive me for hijacking your thread, but I want to follow up on the coyote teeth measurements Harry P gave. I finally figured out what a M1 is, and it measures 20mm on the three teeth I have. Bigger than the coyote measurement. But I guess it still can't rule out a large dog? Pardon my butting in, but wolf anything would be very cool. Thanks

naturegirl

 

[Harry Pristis]

Hi worthy, please forgive me for hijacking your thread, but I want to follow up on the coyote teeth measurements Harry P gave. I finally figured out what a M1 is, and it measures 20mm on the three teeth I have. Bigger than the coyote measurement. But I guess it still can't rule out a large dog? Pardon my butting in, but wolf anything would be very cool. Thanks
naturegirl

Which three teeth do you have, 'naturegirl'?

Upper 1st molar (M1) like the ones above?
Lower 1st molar (m1) like the ones above?

Upper and lower molars are quite different in canids.

Crown length is the longest enamel measurement on the long axis of the tooth. Crown width is widest measurement along the labial-to-lingual axis of the tooth. You need some sort of caliper to do these measurements with any accuracy.

I have some tables of measurements I can check if you'll identify the teeth.

 

[gallileo60]

I'm so jealous..

 

[naturegirl]

Harry, I have the upper, right, M1 and P4 and 3? If I have them identified correctly the measurements with a digital calliper( who knew husband had a digital calliper?)

M1 is 20.5mm long and 15mm wide (at the widest point of crown)

P4 is 25mm long and 14mm wide

P3 is 15.5 mm long and 8mm wide

IF I selected the right place to put the points, I looked for the widest area in both directions.

I've been looking on-line and so far haven't found any measurements of wolf teeth, so thank you.

naturegirl

 

[Harry Pristis]

Okay . . . here's what I found:

This is upper premolar 4 (carnassial tooth):

For 50 dogs, C. familiaris, the avg. length was . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.28mm

For 111 female coyotes, C. latrans, the avg. lngth. was . . . . . . 19.60mm

For 166 male coyotes, the average length was . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.38mm

For 12 eastern female gray wolves, C. lupus, the avg. was . . . . 22.67mm

For 19 eastern male gray wolves, the avg. P4 lngth. was . . . . . . . . . . 24.55mm

For an uncounted number of dire wolves, C. dirus, the lngth. . . . 30-35mm

You can use this information to identify your jaw. Nice find!

 

[naturegirl]

Harry, ALL Right! I don't know where you live, but did you hear me hollar? Thank you so much for this invaluable info. It's a wolf! I apperciate the time you took with this.

naturegirl

 

[Harry Pristis]

Harry, ALL Right! I don't know where you live, but did you hear me hollar? Thank you so much for this invaluable info. It's a wolf! I apperciate the time you took with this.

naturegirl

You are quite welcome, naturegirl. I learned something also, so it was not a chore.

The information came from the 1979 Monograph Number 6 of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas. The title is, NORTH AMERICAN QUATERNARY CANIS.

For future reference, I've posted the image and this information here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?app=gallery&module=images&section=viewimage&img=5096

 

[Worthy55]

Great find naturegirl. 8) 8) 8)

 

[Worthy55]

Here is my latest finds from the Santa Fe River. ..Wolf and Coyote teeth. 8) 8) 8)

 

[Worthy55]

Re: Dire Wolf upper jaw and teeth.

Here is a dire wolf canine and incisor also from the river. 8) 8) 8)