![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() A good way to pick a fight in any bar in rural America is to start offering opinions on “ Canadian gray wolves” or “ coywolves” or “ eastern coyotes.”Ī new paper in the journal Biology Letters uses the latest genomic techniques to give a clearer picture of canid taxonomy and hybrid origins. The answers are not simple, in large part because the topic of wolves and wolf hybrids often resides more in the realm of folklore than biology. Which of these are species? What is the real deal with hybrids? What does it mean for conservation? But beyond that: our wolf identification skills are probably not as good as we think.Ĭonsider the names bandied about the popular media today: gray wolf, red wolf, coyote, coywolf, coydog. Unlike Little Red Riding Hood, most of us can tell the difference between a wolf and Grandmother. The paper also helps clarify the hybrid origins of other wild canines, including Eastern coyotes and Great Lakes wolves. In a Nutshell : Eastern wolves, often considered to be a hybrid of gray wolves and coyotes, actually represent a separate species, revealed by the latest genomic research published in Biology Letters. ![]()
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