Chocolate Root vs Lobo gris

Geum rivale compared with Canis lupus

Key Differences

Chocolate Root is Extinct while Lobo gris is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chocolate Root	Lobo gris
Kingdom	Plantae (planta)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (cordados)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Mammalia (mamíferos)
Order	Rosales (Roses & Allies)	Carnivora (carnívoros)
Family	Rosaceae (Rose Family)	Canidae (Dogs & Wolves)
Genus	Geum	Canis (Dogs & Wolves)
Species	Geum rivale	Canis lupus

Conservation Status

Chocolate Root

EX — Extinct

Lobo gris

CR — Critically Endangered

Population: ~300.0K

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chocolate Root	Lobo gris
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	13 years
Average Length	—	1.6 m
Average Weight	—	45.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chocolate Root

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found across Europe (7 countries) and North America (Canada, United States).

Lobo gris

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, deserts and xeric shrublands, and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, among 13 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Seychelles), Asia (Japan), Europe (5 countries), North America (7 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Marshall Islands, Vanuatu), and South America (5 countries). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Chocolate Root

Chocolate Root (Geum rivale), also called Water Avens or Indian Chocolate, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Rosaceae, native to cool, moist habitats across Europe, northern Asia, and North America, where it grows in wet meadows, fens, stream banks, and damp woodlands. It produces pinnate leaves with a large terminal leaflet and drooping, nodding flowers whose petals are cream to pink and surrounded by distinctive purplish-red sepals giving the flower a nodding, bell-like appearance when closed. The nodding habit is an adaptation for rain-pollination avoidance, and fertilised flowers develop achene fruits topped with hooked styles for animal dispersal. The name Chocolate Root refers to the aromatic rhizome, which has been used traditionally as a chocolate-like flavouring in beverages and as a medicinal herb with astringent and tonic properties. The IUCN classifies Geum rivale as Extinct in certain regional contexts — notably in some lowland British localities where wetland drainage, river modification, and agricultural intensification have eliminated populations — though the species remains widespread and Least Concern across its global range. Its continued survival depends on the protection of wetland habitats, and it is used as an indicator of ancient, species-rich wetland communities of conservation importance.

Lobo gris

El lobo gris (Canis lupus), el cánido silvestre más ampliamente distribuido, se extiende desde América del Norte a través de Eurasia en hábitats diversos que incluyen la tundra, bosques y praderas. Son animales altamente sociales que viven en manadas familiares lideradas por una pareja reproductora dominante. Como depredadores clave, los lobos regulan las poblaciones de presas y moldean profundamente la estructura del ecosistema, como demostró su reintroducción en Yellowstone. Antes muy perseguidos, las poblaciones se están recuperando en muchas regiones.