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The wolf (Canis lupus; [b] pl.: wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, including the dog and dingo , though grey wolves, as popularly understood, only comprise naturally-occurring wild subspecies.
The gray wolf (C. lupus), the Ethiopian wolf (C. simensis), eastern wolf (C. lycaon), and the African golden wolf (C. lupaster) are four of the many Canis species referred to as "wolves". [37] Species that are too small to attract the word "wolf" are called coyotes in the Americas and jackals elsewhere. [ 38 ]
Two wolf subspecies that live in the northern Rocky Mountains: Canis lupus irremotus (left) and Canis lupus occidentalis (right) The northern Rocky Mountain wolf preys primarily on the bison, elk, the Rocky Mountain mule deer, and the beaver, though it is an opportunistic animal and will prey upon other species if the chance arises.
This is a list of famous individual wolves, pairs of wolves, or wolf packs. For a list of wolf subspecies, see Subspecies of Canis lupus. For a list of all species in the Canidae family, several of which are named "wolves", see list of canids.
Northwestern wolves are one of the largest subspecies of wolves. In British Columbia, Canada, five adult females averaged 42.5 kg or 93.6 lbs with a range of 85 lbs to 100 lbs (38.6 - 45.4 kg) and ten adult males averaged 112.2 lbs or 51.7 kg with a range of 105 lbs to 135 lbs (47.6 - 61.2 kg), with a weight range for all adults of 38.6 kg to 61.2 kg (85 – 135 lbs). [9]
The comparison indicated that the red wolf was about 76% coyote and 24% gray wolf with hybridization having occurred 287–430 years ago. The eastern wolf – which was referred to as the "Great Lakes" wolf in this study – was 58% gray wolf and 42% coyote with hybridization having occurred 546–963 years ago.
In 2021, a mitochondrial DNA analysis of North American wolf-like canines indicates that the extinct Late Pleistocene Beringian wolf was the ancestor of the southern wolf clade, which includes the Mexican wolf and the Great Plains wolf. The Mexican wolf is the most ancestral of the gray wolves that live in North America today.
The Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni), also known as the Islands wolf, [4] is a subspecies of the gray wolf.The coastal wolves of southeast Alaska inhabit the area that includes the Alexander Archipelago, its islands, and a narrow strip of rugged coastline that is biologically isolated from the rest of North America by the Coast Mountains.