The dire wolf
The Dire wolf is the cousin of the grey wolf although there is no living descendants today. At first glance Dire wolves and grey wolves look almost identical but there is a few differences. For example the Dire wolf had a larger jaw and teeth compared to the grey wolf. This meant they had a stronger bite force which helped them bring down large prey such as horses and bison. The Dire wolf was 5 feet nose to tail, stood around 2 feet tall and weighed up to 150 pounds while the grey wolf was smaller in stature and weighed between 70 to 100 pounds. The Dire wolf was more powerfully built than the grey wolf yet the grey wolf was the species that survived. More than 3,500 individual Dire wolf fossils have been uncovered in the La Brea Tar Pits in California. Scientists believe that the Dire wolves would get trapped in the molten asphalt while attempting to attack a animal that was also stuck. Since Dire wolves traveled in packs, similar to that of grey wolves, of 30 or more, multiple wolves would end up starving to death in the asphalt. Some scientists believe that the abrupt climate change was a substantial factor in the extinction of the Dire wolves. Others think that humans were the ones that caused this because around this time period humans were beginning to cross over the Bering land bridge into the Dire wolves habitats.
Prehistoric Predators: Dire Wolf - Documentary on Dire wolves.