Genetic nature of eastern wolves: Past, present and future

Abstract

Eastern North American wolves have long been recognized as morphologically distinct from both coyotes and gray wolves. This has led to questions regarding their origins and taxonomic status. Eastern wolves are mainly viewed as: (1) a smaller subspecies of gray wolf (Canis lupus lycaon), potentially the result of historical hybridization between gray wolves (C. lupus) and red wolves (C. rufus), (2) a hybrid, the result of gray wolf (C. lupus) and coyote (C. latrans) interbreeding, or (3) a distinct species, C. lycaon, closely related to the red wolf (C. rufus). Although debate persists, recent molecular studies suggest that the eastern wolf is not a gray wolf subspecies, nor the result of gray wolf/coyote hybridization. Eastern wolves were more likely a distinct species, C. lycaon, prior to the eastward spread of coyotes in the late 1800s. However, contemporary interbreeding exits between C. lycaon to both C. lupus and C. latrans over much of its present range complicating its present taxonomic characterization. While hybridization may be reducing the taxonomic distinctiveness of C. lycaon, it should not necessarily be viewed as negative influence. Hybridization may be enhancing the adaptive potential of eastern wolves, allowing them to more effectively exploit available resources in rapidly changing environments.

Native Great Lakes wolves were not restored

“…These new invaders have a mixed ancestry including contributions from grey wolves, coyotes and Great Lakes wolves. Prior genetic evidence suggests that hybridization has been increasing in the Great Lakes region over the past 50 years and that hybrids now populate large areas of the Great Lakes states and New England (Lehman et al 1991;Roy et al 1994;Wilson et al 2000;Kyle et al 2006). Historical records indicate that hybridization between coyotes and wolf-like canids in the area did not begin until after 1900 when coyotes first entered the region (Hilton 1978;Lehman et al 1991).…”

“…These concerns are further complicated by the recent suggestion based on molecular genetic data that C. l. lycaon is a distinct wolf-like species unique to the region that evolved independently in North America from a coyote-like ancestor. Consequently, hybridization among three wolf-like species is a possibility (Lehman et al 1991;Wilson et al 2000;Kyle et al 2006).…”

A genome-wide perspective on the evolutionary history of enigmatic wolf-like canids

“…4), suggesting a more heterogeneous process of admixture, with some individuals largely free of coyote ancestry, especially in more western populations (Koblmüller et al 2009;Rutledge et al 2010a). Notably, the distinctive wolves of Algonquin Provincial Park in central Ontario that have the archetypical C1 mtDNA haplotype thought to be representative of the Great Lakes wolf taxon (Wilson et al 2000;Kyle et al 2006) have the largest proportion of their genome assigned to coyotes. Finally, in the full analysis, at K = 9 and K = 10, the red wolf (orange) and Great Lakes wolf (dark green), respectively, show a distinct genetic signature that appears analogous to subspecific partitions such as the Mexican wolf (Fig.…”

“…1; Supplemental Table S1). Origin through ancient hybridization or an independent New World evolution might warrant greater preservation efforts and legal protection, whereas origin through recent hybridization would suggest a dynamic evolutionary zone of questionable conservation status, although the ecological significance of such hybrids should also be considered (Crandall et al 2000; Kyle et al 2006;Leonard and Wayne 2008). Specifically, the red wolf is protected as a distinct endangered species under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) and wildlife management agencies dedicate considerable resources to study, monitor, and protect the red wolf (Phillips et al 2003).…”

Colonization history and ancestry of northeastern coyotes

“…Additionally, the failure on the part of Koblmuller et al (2009) to distinguish between coyote and eastern wolf lineages obscures the view that western Great Lakes region wolves contain grey and eastern wolf genetic material, and thus are grey-eastern wolf hybrids (C. lupus  lycaon) and not wolf -coyote hybrids (Wheeldon 2009;Wheeldon & White 2009;Wilson et al 2009). In addition to a more careful analysis of the probable colonization routes of western coyotes into northeastern North America, Kays et al should have considered this alternative hypothesis, which has considerable support in the literature (see Kyle et al 2006 …”