While the dire wolf lives on in popular fiction and lore, some of today’s wolves are close seconds in terms of their enormous size. Watch to discover which wolf species measure the largest on Earth.

The dire wolf was much smaller than some of the other prehistoric animals of its time. Measuring five feet long and up to 200 pounds, the dire wolf was a compact killing machine. With jaws that ...

led to the demise of the dire wolf and many other ancient predators about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. But other, more plucky animals managed to hold on a bit longer. The great auk (Pinguinus ...