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I just wanted to know what the deal was with the dire beasts that walk on the lands of the Forgotten Realms
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They once walked on Earth you know.
From Bjorn Kurten and Elaine Anderson's Pleistocene Mammals of North America:
"Dire Wolf, Canis dirus... One of the most common mammalian species in the Rancholabrean, the dire wolf has been found at more than 80 sites in North America ranging from late Illinoian and Sangamonian to late Wisconsinan. ...The range covers most of the United States and Mexico and extends to Peru in the south.
"Equalling a large gray wolf in size, Canis dirus was markedly heavier of build, with a very large and broad head and sturdy limbs with relatively short lower segments. The dentition was more powerful than that of any other species of Canis, the carnassial teeth being, on the average, much larger than those of Canis lupus. The braincase is relatively smaller than that of the grey wolf. The dire wolf may be referred to the subgenus Aenocyon, of which it is the sole known species." -- p. 171