This article is about the extinct Late Pleistocene wolf. For the extinct Pleistocene wolf that once existed south of the Wisconsin glaciation, see Dire wolf. For the extant wolf, see Wolf.
Pleistocene wolf
Temporal range: 0.056–0.0075 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
↓
Late Pleistocene to Holocene[1][2]
Pleistocene wolf skulls and jaws from Hutton and Banwell Caves, (Somerset) and Oreston Cave (Plymouth), England
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Carnivora
Family:
Canidae
Genus:
Canis
Species:
C. lupus
Population:
†Pleistocene wolf
The Pleistocene wolf, also referred to as the Late Pleistocene wolf, is an extinct lineage or ecomorph of the grey wolf (Canis lupus). It was a Late Pleistocene 129 Ka – early Holocene 11 Ka hypercarnivore. While comparable in size to a large modern grey wolf, it possessed a shorter, broader palate with large carnassial teeth relative to its overall skull size, allowing it to prey and scavenge on Pleistocene megafauna. Such an adaptation is an example of phenotypic plasticity. It was once distributed across the northern Holarctic. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that despite being much smaller than this prehistoric wolf, the Japanese wolf (C. l. hodophilax), which went extinct in the early 20th century, was of a Pleistocene wolf lineage, thus extending its survival to several millennia after its previous estimated extinction around 7,500 years ago.[3]
The Pleistocenewolf, also referred to as the Late Pleistocenewolf, is an extinct lineage or ecomorph of the grey wolf (Canis lupus). It was a Late Pleistocene...
simus), the modern cougar (Puma concolor), the Pleistocene coyote (Canis latrans), and the Pleistocene gray wolf that was more massive and robust than today...
out of a Beringia refuge to repopulate the wolf's former range, replacing the remaining Late Pleistocenewolf populations across Eurasia and North America...
being the Hokkaido wolf. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that the Japanese wolf was the last surviving wild member of the Pleistocenewolf lineage (in contrast...
substantial dog-into-wolf gene flow, with the modern grey wolf being the dog's nearest living relative. An extinct Late Pleistocenewolf may have been the...
clear. The Beringian wolf was similar in size to the modern Alaskan Interior wolf (Canis lupus pambasileus) and other Late Pleistocene gray wolves but more...
wolf (Canis lupus spelaeus) is an extinct glacial mammoth steppe-adapted white wolf that lived during the Middle Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene....
lineage as modern wolves, and proposed that dogs may be descended from a Pleistocenewolf closer in size to a village dog. In 2021, the American Society of Mammalogists...
genetically distinct Italian wolf to be considered as a subspecies. In 2019, an mDNA study of 19 Late Pleistocene-Holocene wolf samples from northern Italy...
The Late Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene saw numerous extinctions of predominantly megafaunal (typically defined as having body masses over...
the Etruscan wolf, is an extinct species of canine that was endemic to Mediterranean Europe during the Early Pleistocene. The Etruscan wolf is described...
The Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) is a subspecies of gray wolf that ranges from Southwest Asia to the Indian subcontinent. It is intermediate in size...
dire wolf. Xenocyon (strange wolf) is an extinct subgenus of Canis. The diversity of the Canis group decreased by the end of the Early Pleistocene to the...
out of a Beringia refuge to repopulate the wolf's former range, replacing the remaining Late Pleistocenewolf populations across Eurasia and North America...
Middle Pleistocene). The Mosbach wolf was a short-legged carcass feeder adapted for scavenging megafauna on the mammoth steppe. The Mosbach wolf is proposed...
molecular means. During the Pleistocene, the North American wolf line appeared, with Canis edwardii, clearly identifiable as a wolf, and Canis rufus appeared...
years ago. An extinct Late Pleistocenewolf may have been the ancestor of the dog, with the dog's similarity to the extant wolf being the result of genetic...
the wolf lineage dates back to 2 million YBP. The study proposes that 35,000 YBP there was genetic introgression into the Late Pleistocene grey wolf from...
studies suggest that the Pleistocene "coyote" was not in fact a coyote, but rather an extinct western population of the red wolf (C. rufus). Compared to...
genetically distinct from Pleistocene wolves that lived in Europe at that time. The Paleolithic dog was smaller than the Pleistocenewolf (Canis c.f. lupus)...
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic...
maned wolf is the only species among the large South American canids that survived the late Pleistocene extinction. Fossils of the maned wolf from the...
of North American wolf-like canines indicates that the extinct Late Pleistocene Beringian wolf was the ancestor of the southern wolf clade, which includes...
specialized wolf ecotypes survived. Analogous to the modern wolf ecotype that has evolved to track and prey upon caribou, a Pleistocenewolf population...
Eastern wolf can be found only in the Mexican wolf. The authors propose that Pleistocene coyote and Beringian wolf admixture led to the Eastern wolf long...
Pleistocene rewilding is the advocacy of the reintroduction of extant Pleistocene megafauna, or the close ecological equivalents of extinct megafauna...
of North American wolf-like canines indicates that the extinct Late Pleistocene Beringian wolf was the ancestor of the southern wolf clade, which includes...
of their Beringia refuge to repopulate the wolf's former range, replacing the remaining Late Pleistocenewolf populations across Eurasia and North America...
000-Year-Old Wolf Discovered in Russia". Live Science. Retrieved May 16, 2020. "Still snarling after 40,000 years, a giant Pleistocenewolf discovered in...
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