Both Game of Thrones and Jurassic Park just came a little closer to reality, since scientists have brought back a breed of wolf that has been extinct for around 10,000 years.
The dire wolf lived many millennia ago in the Americas, and a version of the animal known as the direwolf was prominently featured in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series (as well as the Game of Thrones TV show). Now, the species has been brought back by Texas biology research company Colossal Biosciences.
On Monday, the self-described "de-extinction company" announced that it has bred three dire wolves: the adolescent males Romulus and Remus, and the female puppy Khaleesi. The latter is named after the Game of Thrones character played by Emilia Clarke. The eldest of these, Romulus and Remus, were born on October 1 of last year.
"Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies," Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said in a statement.
To quote Jurassic Park's Jeff Goldblum's Jurassic Park character Ian Malcolm, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."