C.dirusdirus on average , with some specimens being larger. The dire wolf was heavier than the Beringian wolf and possessed a more robust skull and dentition. Adaptation Adaptation is the evolutionary process by which an organism becomes better able to live in its environment. The genetic differences between wolf populations is tightly associated with their type of habitat, and wolves disperse primarily within the type of habitat that they were born into. Ecological factors such as habitat type, climate, prey specialization, and predatory competition have been shown to greatly influence gray wolf craniodental plasticity, which is an adaptation of the cranium and teeth due to the influences of the environment. In the Late Pleistocene the variations between local environments would have encouraged a range of wolf ecotypes that were genetically, morphologically, and ecologically distinct from each another. The term ecomorph is used to describes a recognizable association of the morphology of an organism or a species with their use of the environment. The Beringian wolf ecomorph shows evolutionary craniodental plasticity not seen in past nor present North American gray wolves, and was well-adapted to the megafauna-rich environment of the Late Pleistocene. Paleoecology The last glacial period, commonly referred to as the "Ice Age", spanned 125,000–14,500YBP and was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age, which occurred during the last years of the Pleistocene era. The Ice Age reached its peak during the Last Glacial Maximum, when ice sheets began advancing 33,000YBP and reached their maximum limits 26,500YBP. Deglaciation commenced in the Northern Hemisphere approximately 19,000YBP and in Antarctica approximately 14,500YBP, which is consistent with evidence that glacial meltwater was the primary source for an abrupt rise in sea level 14,500YBP and the Bering land bridge was finally inundated around 11,000YBP. The fossil evidence from many continents points to the extinction of large animals, termed Pleistocene megafauna, near the end of the last glaciation. During the Ice Age a vast, cold and dry mammoth steppe stretched from the Arctic islands southwards to China, and from Spain eastwards across Eurasia and over the Bering land bridge into Alaska and the Yukon, where it was blocked by the Wisconsin glaciation. The land bridge existed because sea levels were lower due to more of the planet's water being locked up in glaciers compared with today. Therefore, the flora and fauna of Beringia were more related to those of Eurasia rather than