Reviving the African Wolf Canis lupus lupaster in North and West Africa: A Mitochondrial Lineage Ranging More than 6,000 km Wide

Abstract

The recent discovery of a lineage of gray wolf in North-East Africa suggests the presence of a cryptic canid on the continent, the African wolf Canis lupus lupaster. We analyzed the mtDNA diversity (cytochrome b and control region) of a series of African Canis including wolf-like animals from North and West Africa. Our objectives were to assess the actual range of C. l. lupaster, to further estimate the genetic characteristics and demographic history of its lineage, and to question its taxonomic delineation from the golden jackal C. aureus, with which it has been considered synonymous. We confirmed the existence of four distinct lineages within the gray wolf, including C. lupus/familiaris (Holarctic wolves and dogs), C. l. pallipes, C. l. chanco and C. l. lupaster. Taxonomic assignment procedures identified wolf-like individuals from Algeria, Mali and Senegal, as belonging to C. l. lupaster, expanding its known distribution c. 6,000 km to the west. We estimated that the African wolf lineage (i) had the highest level of genetic diversity within C. lupus, (ii) coalesced during the Late Pleistocene, contemporaneously with Holarctic wolves and dogs, and (iii) had an effective population size of c. 80,000 females. Our results suggest that the African wolf is a relatively ancient gray wolf lineage with a fairly large, past effective population size, as also suggested by the Pleistocene fossil record. Unique field observations in Senegal allowed us to provide a morphological and behavioral diagnosis of the African wolf that clearly distinguished it from the sympatric golden jackal. However, the detection of C. l. lupaster mtDNA haplotypes in C. aureus from Senegal brings the delineation between the African wolf and the golden jackal into question. In terms of conservation, it appears urgent to further characterize the status of the African wolf with regard to the African golden jackal.

Rediscovering a forgotten canid species

“…[13]). Our data show that there are significant differences in size between populations of C. lupaster, with East African individuals being smaller than North and West African ones.…”

“…Previous authors have alternated between Canis lupaster (e.g., [13,14,38]) and Canis anthus [13]. Of these, C. anthus F. Cuvier, 1820 [10] has priority.…”

“…Recent publications [13][14][15] have identified this animal as a separate species, more closely related to the Holarctic grey wolf than to the golden jackal. Gaubert et al [13] suggested the existence of both the golden jackal and African wolf in North and West Africa. Their mtDNA analysis revealed a close relationship between specimens morphologically assigned as golden jackals and those assigned as the African wolf, differentiating them from Indian golden jackal.…”

“…The presence of a wolf relative in North and West Africa was indicated in the early literature [9][10][11][12], but until recently [13][14][15] largely ignored in the modern literature. Here we demonstrate the presence of a species closely related to the Holarctic wolf in Africa and discuss its taxonomic status and morphology.…”

Unregulated hunting and genetic recovery from a severe population decline: the cautionary case of Bulgarian wolves

“…The range of grey wolves and golden jackals overlaps in southern Asia, Middle East, and the Balkans, and no hybridisation studies were performed in the areas where these two species coexist. Some north African canids originally classified as golden jackals (C. aureus) were shown to carry mtDNA haplotypes falling within the grey wolf clade (Rueness et al 2011;Gaubert et al 2012). This was interpreted as a taxonomic misidentification, but could also result from hybridisation and introgression of grey wolf mtDNA into golden jackal populations; analysis of nuclear DNA is needed to clarify this.…”