Great Lakes-boreal wolf
| Great Lakes-boreal wolf | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subtribe: | Canina |
| Genus: | Canis |
| Species: | |
The Great Lakes-boreal wolf is a North American hybrid canine population with Great Plains wolf and eastern wolf ancestry.
Taxonomy
[edit]This canine has been referred as the Minnesota wolf,[1] Great Lakes wolf, and Great Lakes-boreal wolf.[2]
A 2011 study showed that wolves in the Great Lakes before 1950 showed more affinity to eastern wolves based on skull remains. However, during the early and mid-1970s, wolf skulls shifted to being more similar to Great Plains wolf, following their eastward migrations. Rostral ratios examined which date from 1969 to 1999 showed that Great Lakes wolves were the result of hybridization between Great Plains and eastern wolves.[1]
Ancestry
[edit]In 2021, an mDNA analysis of modern and extinct North American wolf-like canines indicates that the extinct Late Pleistocene Beringian wolf was the ancestor of the southern wolf clade, which includes the Great Plains wolf and Mexican wolf. The modern coyote appeared around 10,000 years ago. The most genetically basal coyote mDNA clade pre-dates the Last Glacial Maximum and is a haplotype that can only be found in the eastern wolf. This implies that the large, wolf-like Pleistocene coyote was the ancestor of the eastern wolf. Further, another ancient haplotype detected in the 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 before the arrival of the modern coyote and the modern wolf.[3]
Diet
[edit]In the winter, Great Lakes-boreal wolves are known to prey on moose and northern white-tailed deer (the latter of which is their primary prey).[4] During the time between spring and fall, Great Lakes-boreal wolves prey on North American beavers and other small rodents.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Mech, L. David; Nowak, Ronald M.; Weisberg, Sanford (22 November 2011). "Use of cranial characters in taxonomy of the Minnesota wolf (Canis sp.)". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 89 (12): 1188–1194. doi:10.1139/z11-097. ISSN 0008-4301.
- ^ Rutledge, L. Y.; Devillard, S.; Boone, J. Q.; Hohenlohe, P. A.; White, B. N. (11 July 2015). "RAD sequencing and genomic simulations resolve hybrid origins within North American Canis". Biology Letters. 11 (7): 20150303. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0303. ISSN 1744-957X. PMC 4528444. PMID 26156129.
- ^ Wilson, Paul J.; Rutledge, Linda Y. (21 September 2020). "Considering Pleistocene North American wolves and coyotes in the eastern Canis origin story". Ecology and Evolution. 11 (13): 9137–9147. Bibcode:2021EcoEv..11.9137W. doi:10.1002/ece3.7757. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC 8258226. PMID 34257949.
- ^ van den Bosch, Merijn; Kellner, Kenneth F.; Beyer Jr., Dean E.; Erb, John D.; MacFarland, David M.; Norton, D. Cody; Price Tack, Jennifer L.; Roell, Brian J.; Belant, Jerrold L. (2023). "Gray wolf range in the western Great Lakes region under forecasted land use and climate change". Ecosphere. 14 (8): e4630. doi:10.1002/ecs2.4630. ISSN 2150-8925.
- ^ "Natural history". www.biologicaldiversity.org. Retrieved 24 April 2025.