George R.R. Martin was among the first to meet a trio of wolf pups that are said to be the “world’s first successfully de-extincted animal.”
On Monday, a group of scientists at Colossal Biosciences announced that after years of working to de-extinct animals, they had finally genetically engineered three wolves containing the DNA of the extinct dire wolf, a species made popular by HBO’s Game of Thrones, based on the works of Martin.
While the three animals aren’t an exact revival of the prehistoric canines, which died out around 13,000 years ago, they are said to carry 20 dire wolf genes.
They were created by inserting DNA retrieved from the fossils of dire wolves into embryos that were then implanted into surrogate dog mothers.
The result is two male pups born in October 2024 and one female pup born in January 2025.
Speaking to Comic Book Resources, Colossal co-founder Ben Lamm described the three animals as having “super thick fur, their tail is a little longer, [and] they are taller” than average wolves.
“They’re 80 pounds right now, and a typical wolf is somewhere between 75 and 100 pounds, for a male, and that’s kind of on the high side. These will probably be 140 pounds, which is what we think,” he said, adding that they are also “significantly more muscular” and “Arctic white.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Lamm revealed he’d flown Martin out to meet the wolves in person.
“I did fly George out to meet the Wolves, and he cried! He completely cried,” Lamm said. “He said this was like one of the greatest things that he’s ever seen.”
Martin, who is an investor in Colossal and cultural adviser for the company, said in a statement: “Many people view dire wolves as mythical creatures that only exist in a fantasy world, but in reality, they have a rich history of contributing to the American ecosystem.”
“I get the luxury to write about magic, but Ben and Colossal have created magic by bringing these majestic beasts back to our world.”
Colossal said the animals will live their lives on a continuously monitored, secure ecological preserve that is certified by the American Humane Society and registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Beyond Game of Thrones, the dire wolf remains a mainstay of fantasy settings in pop culture, with additional mentions in role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and video games like World of Warcraft.
There was also a great deal of interest from Native American communities, Lamm told The New Yorker.
“[The dire wolf’s] presence would remind us of our responsibility as stewards of the Earth,” Mark Fox, MHA Nation tribal chairman, said in a statement released by the company.
Independent scientists have expressed skepticism about the project.
“All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else” — not fully revive extinct species, Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the research, told The Associated Press.
“It’s exciting that we can make functional versions of extinct species,” Adam Boyko, a geneticist at Cornell University, told The New York Times, but he did not consider Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi to be truly resurrected dire wolves.
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