Global InformationEastern wolf information
| Eastern wolf | |
|---|---|
| |
| In Algonquin Provincial Park | |
Conservation status
| |
 Imperiled (NatureServe)[1] | |
 Threatened (ESA)[2][3] | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Genus: | Canis |
| Species: | C. lycaon
|
| Binomial name | |
| Canis lycaon Schreber, 1775[4]
| |
| |
| Blue: Distribution of the Eastern wolf | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The eastern wolf (Canis lycaon[5] or Canis lupus lycaon[6][7] or Canis rufus lycaon), also known as the timber wolf,[8] Algonquin wolf and eastern timber wolf,[9] is a canine of debated taxonomy native to the Great Lakes region and southeastern Canada. It is considered to be either a unique subspecies of gray wolf or red wolf or a separate species from both.[10] Many studies have found the eastern wolf to be the product of ancient and recent genetic admixture between the gray wolf and the coyote,[11][12] while other studies have found some or all populations of the eastern wolf, as well as coyotes, originally separated from a common ancestor with the wolf over 1 million years ago and that these populations of the eastern wolf may be the same species as or a closely related species to the red wolf (Canis lupus rufus or Canis rufus) of the Southeastern United States.[13][14][10] Regardless of its status, it is regarded as unique and therefore worthy of conservation[15] with Canada citing the population in eastern Canada (also known as the "Algonquin wolf") as being the eastern wolf population subject to protection.[16]
There are two forms, the larger being referred to as the Great Lakes wolf, which is generally found in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, southeastern Manitoba and northern Ontario, and the smaller being the Algonquin wolf, which inhabits eastern Canada, specifically central and eastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec, with some overlapping and mixing of the two types in the southern portions of northeastern and northwestern Ontario.[17][18][19] The eastern wolf's morphology is midway between that of the gray wolf and the coyote.[10] The fur is typically of a grizzled grayish-brown color mixed with cinnamon. The nape, shoulder and tail region are a mix of black and gray, with the flanks and chest being rufous or creamy.[18] It primarily preys on white-tailed deer, but may occasionally hunt moose and beavers.[20]
In the third edition of Mammal Species of the World published in 2005, the mammalogist W. Christopher Wozencraft listed the eastern wolf as a gray wolf subspecies,[6] which supports its earlier classification based on morphology in three studies.[21][22][23] This taxonomic classification has since been debated, with proposals based on DNA analyses that includes a gray wolf ecotype,[24] a gray wolf with genetic introgression from the coyote,[17] a gray wolf/coyote hybrid,[25] a gray wolf/red wolf hybrid,[23] the same species as the red wolf,[13] or a separate species (Canis lycaon) closely related to the red wolf.[13] Commencing in 2016, two studies using whole genome sequencing indicate that North American gray wolves and wolf-like canids were the result of ancient and complex gray wolf and coyote mixing,[11][12] with the Great Lakes wolf possessing 25% coyote ancestry and the Algonquin wolf possessing 40% coyote ancestry.[12]
In the US, a bill is before Congress to remove protections under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 for the gray wolf populations located in the western Great Lakes region.[26] In Canada, the eastern wolf is listed as Canis lupus lycaon under the Species At Risk Act 2002, Schedule 1 - List of Wildlife at Risk.[16] In 2015, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada recognized the eastern wolf in central and eastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec as Canis cf. lycaon (Canis species believed to be lycaon)[27] and a threatened species worthy of conservation.[28] The main threat to this wolf is human hunting and trapping outside of the protected areas, which leads to genetic introgression with the eastern coyote due to a lack of mates. Further human development immediately outside of the protected areas and the negative public perception of wolves are expected to inhibit any further expansion of their range.[28] In 2016, the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario recognized the Algonquin wolf as a Canis sp. (Canis species) differentiated from the hybrid Great Lakes wolves which it found were the result of "hybridization and backcrossing among Eastern Wolf (Canis lycaon) (aka C. lupus lycaon), Gray Wolf (C. lupus), and Coyote (C. latrans)".[29]
- ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ "Algoquin wolf". ontario.ca.
- ^ "Eastern wolf". www.thelandbetween.ca/the-land-between-species-at-risk.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
schreber1775was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
MDDwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
COL2018ewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
mech1971was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
usfws1992was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
beeland2013was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
vonholdt2016was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
sinding2018was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
wilson2000was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
rutledge2012awas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
heppenheimer2018was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "List of Wildlife Species at Risk" (PDF). Laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
lehman1991was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
thiel2012was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "OWS". Wolvesontario.org. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
- ^ Theberge, J. B. & M. T. Theberge (2004). The wolves of Algonquin Park, a 12 Year Ecological Study Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine, Department of Geography, Publication Series Number 56, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
goldman1937was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
goldman1944was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
nowak2002was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
koblmuller2009was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
vonholdt2011was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Johnson, Ron (January 17, 2017). "S.164 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the final rules relating to the listing of the gray wolf in the Western Great Lakes and the State of Wyoming under the Endangered Species Act of 1973". Congress.gov.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
COSEWIC2015was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
SRPR2015was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Ontario Species at Risk Evaluation Report for Algonquin Wolf (Canis sp.)" (PDF). Cossaroagency.ca. Retrieved 19 March 2022.