What is the taxonomic identity of Minnesota wolves?
The taxonomic identity of the historical and current wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758 or Canis lycaon Schreber, 1775 or their hybrids) population in Minnesota (MN) and the Great Lakes region has been, and continues to be, controversial. So too does its legal status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. T...
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ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:usgsnpwrc-1344 2023-11-12T04:15:37+01:00 What is the taxonomic identity of Minnesota wolves? Mech, L. David 2010-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/352 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsnpwrc/article/1344/viewcontent/Mech_CJZ_2010_What_is_taxonomic.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/352 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsnpwrc/article/1344/viewcontent/Mech_CJZ_2010_What_is_taxonomic.pdf USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Animal Sciences Behavior and Ethology Biodiversity Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Environmental Policy Life Sciences Recreation Parks and Tourism Administration Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology text 2010 ftunivnebraskali 2023-10-30T11:39:09Z The taxonomic identity of the historical and current wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758 or Canis lycaon Schreber, 1775 or their hybrids) population in Minnesota (MN) and the Great Lakes region has been, and continues to be, controversial. So too does its legal status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This review summarizes the morphological and genetic information about that population and concludes that historically the MN population consisted of a gray wolf (C. lupus) in the west and an eastern type (Canis lupus lycaon or C. lycaon) in the east with intergrades or hybrids between the two in most of the state. After extirpation in much of its original MN range, the now-recovered population was infused with gray wolves from Ontario but still consists of hybrid lycaon x gray wolves, probably with higher content gray wolves in the west and higher content lycaon in the east but with most wolves morphologically appearing to be gray wolves. Because the current Wisconsin and Michigan wolf population was derived from MN wolves, they would be primarily hybrids as well. Future research should seek to relate genetic data with morphological measurements in MN wolves. In addition, attempts to breed coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823) with gray wolves in captivity would shed considerable light on the controversy over the origin and taxonomic identity of the newly proposed C. lycaon. Text Canis lupus gray wolf University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
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Animal Sciences Behavior and Ethology Biodiversity Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Environmental Policy Life Sciences Recreation Parks and Tourism Administration Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology |
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Animal Sciences Behavior and Ethology Biodiversity Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Environmental Policy Life Sciences Recreation Parks and Tourism Administration Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Mech, L. David What is the taxonomic identity of Minnesota wolves? |
topic_facet |
Animal Sciences Behavior and Ethology Biodiversity Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Environmental Policy Life Sciences Recreation Parks and Tourism Administration Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology |
description |
The taxonomic identity of the historical and current wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758 or Canis lycaon Schreber, 1775 or their hybrids) population in Minnesota (MN) and the Great Lakes region has been, and continues to be, controversial. So too does its legal status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This review summarizes the morphological and genetic information about that population and concludes that historically the MN population consisted of a gray wolf (C. lupus) in the west and an eastern type (Canis lupus lycaon or C. lycaon) in the east with intergrades or hybrids between the two in most of the state. After extirpation in much of its original MN range, the now-recovered population was infused with gray wolves from Ontario but still consists of hybrid lycaon x gray wolves, probably with higher content gray wolves in the west and higher content lycaon in the east but with most wolves morphologically appearing to be gray wolves. Because the current Wisconsin and Michigan wolf population was derived from MN wolves, they would be primarily hybrids as well. Future research should seek to relate genetic data with morphological measurements in MN wolves. In addition, attempts to breed coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823) with gray wolves in captivity would shed considerable light on the controversy over the origin and taxonomic identity of the newly proposed C. lycaon. |
format |
Text |
author |
Mech, L. David |
author_facet |
Mech, L. David |
author_sort |
Mech, L. David |
title |
What is the taxonomic identity of Minnesota wolves? |
title_short |
What is the taxonomic identity of Minnesota wolves? |
title_full |
What is the taxonomic identity of Minnesota wolves? |
title_fullStr |
What is the taxonomic identity of Minnesota wolves? |
title_full_unstemmed |
What is the taxonomic identity of Minnesota wolves? |
title_sort |
what is the taxonomic identity of minnesota wolves? |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/352 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsnpwrc/article/1344/viewcontent/Mech_CJZ_2010_What_is_taxonomic.pdf |
genre |
Canis lupus gray wolf |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus gray wolf |
op_source |
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/352 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsnpwrc/article/1344/viewcontent/Mech_CJZ_2010_What_is_taxonomic.pdf |
_version_ |
1782332890003013632 |