I would really love to hear your take on all this.

Also, is their genetic code definitively that of the dire wolf? Is it distinct enough from the gray wolf? If so, do we use that as the definition of the species instead? So murky.

By the biological species concept, they would be considered a unique species from the gray wolf if they could reproduce with each other and produce their same kind and not produce gray wolves. Would this, if it were to happen, confirm that they were indeed dire wolves, or something new?