Colossal Labs, the company working to bring extinct animals back to life, is now preparing to share something extraordinary the howls of the dire wolf. According to founder Ben Lamm, these eerie sounds, recorded from genetically revived dire wolves, will be released later this year as part of a new bio-acoustic project.
The announcement came during a panel at SXSW’s London edition, where Lamm was joined by actress Sophie Turner, best known for her role in Game of Thrones. Turner, who admitted she once thought dire wolves were just fantasy, seemed just as intrigued as the audience.
Lamm recounted how Colossal Labs, through advanced genetic editing, brought back the dire wolf, which vanished over 10,000 years ago. The first two revived pups, named Romulus and Remus, began howling as early as three weeks old. They responded not just to each other, but also to human singing and owl calls.
Now six months old, the wolves live in a massive, 2,000-acre secret preserve, Lamm compared to Yellowstone. The facility includes an animal hospital, full-time staff, and tight security. “They’re starting to do some light predation on the preserve,” he said, adding that their instincts are growing stronger.
Soon, Romulus and Remus will meet a newly developed female dire wolf named Khalessi, who’s about three months old.
Lamm revealed that Colossal is using AI to analyze dire wolf communication, something he calls “wolf linguistics.” The wolves each have unique pitches and inflections in their howls, and the company aims to track and map this vocal behavior.
“The crazy part is that dire wolves have their own pitch and vocal inflection,” he told the crowd. “We’re going to release that later this year.” The bio-acoustic project is expected to offer the public a first-of-its-kind audio map of these ancient creatures’ sounds.
Despite public skepticism, many critics argue Colossal’s dire wolves are just modified gray wolves—the startup has captured investors’ attention. Earlier this year, it raised $200 million in Series C funding at a staggering $10.2 billion valuation.
Colossal has also announced plans to revive the Tasmanian tiger and the dodo, and even managed to grow mammoth-like fur on mice within a month. Lamm hinted that a big update about the dodo might drop this summer.
When asked by Turner about dinosaurs, Lamm smiled but said that reviving them is far more complex and not currently a focus. Still, he left the door open for future surprises from the company that’s turning science fiction into science fact.
