Scientists have disputed a bioscience firm’s claims to have resurrected the extinct dire wolf more than 10,000 years after the species disappeared from the Earth.

Colossal Bioscience, a $10billion private company, professes to have “restored a once-eradicated species” by genetically engineering three pups using ancient DNA found in fossils from between 11,500 and 72,000 years ago.

One of the animals, named Remus, featured on the cover of Time magazine this week alongside the words: “he’s a dire wolf”.

But experts have questioned the firm’s claims, saying that while the birth of the three wolves is a significant achievement, it is not the same as bringing a species back to life.