REVIEWS • 217
refer to some DNA analyses (p. 253), but then compares the findings back to morphology, thus reducing their scientific merit. One question raised by this chapter is the subspecific designation of North American wolves. Al-though I am not a taxonomist by training, I have observed and handled numerous...
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.656.1200 http://arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/541/571/ |
| Summary: | refer to some DNA analyses (p. 253), but then compares the findings back to morphology, thus reducing their scientific merit. One question raised by this chapter is the subspecific designation of North American wolves. Al-though I am not a taxonomist by training, I have observed and handled numerous wolves in Minnesota (C. l. nubilus), the Rocky Mountains (C. l. occidentalis), and the Barrenlands of the Northwest Territories. Tundra wolves differ substantially in appearance (Gipson et al., 2002) and behavior (Walton et al., 2001) from Minnesota and Rocky Mountain wolves. It is odd, therefore, that the range map in chapter 9 (p. 243) places them in one of these two subspecies. In that the taxonomy of any species can be controversial, the author gives a fair representation of the literature on the subject. As more and better molecular, morphologic, and behavioral data become available, the information in chapter 9 will most likely be the earliest in Wolves to become obsolete. I found chapter 2 (Wolf Behavior: Reproductive, Social, and Intelligent), to be the least accessible and most diffi-cult to read of the book. While the discussion on courtship and reproduction is valuable, the writing is jargon-laden and unfocused. It seems much of the information in this chapter could have been included in those on social ecol-ogy, communication, and physiology. |
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