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The wolf (Canis lupus; [b] pl.: wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America.More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey wolves, as popularly understood, only comprise naturally-occurring wild subspecies.
In Israel and Palestine, there is some disagreement as to the exact taxonomic status of wolves. Some scientists hold that two subspecies of wolf are present: C. l. pallipes in the northern parts and C. l. arabs in the south. They point out that the southern wolves are smaller than the northern wolves, which are also darker and have longer fur. [10]
Wolves are sometimes kept as exotic pets, and in some rarer occasions, as working animals. Although closely related to domesticated dogs, wolves do not show the same tractability as dogs in living alongside humans, and generally, a greater amount of effort is required in order to obtain the same amount of reliability. Wolves also need much more ...
They can use gaze to focus attention on where other wolves are looking. This is important because wolves do not use vocalization when hunting. In laboratory tests, they appear to exhibit insight, foresight, understanding, and the ability to plan. To survive, wolves must be able to solve two problems—finding a prey animal, then confronting it. [4]
Caniformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "dog-like" carnivorans. They include dogs (wolves, foxes, etc.), bears, raccoons, and mustelids. [1] The Pinnipedia (seals, walruses and sea lions) are also assigned to this group.
Data on male parental care have been collected from captive animals, and little is known whether this occurs frequently in the wild. [8] Maned wolves reach sexual maturity at one year of age, when they leave their birth territory. [8] The maned wolf's longevity in the wild is unknown, but estimates in captivity are between 12 and 15 years. [16]
The Himalayan wolf (Canis lupus chanco) is a canine of debated taxonomy. [3] It is distinguished by its genetic markers, with mitochondrial DNA indicating that it is genetically basal to the Holarctic grey wolf, genetically the same wolf as the Tibetan and Mongolian wolf, [4] [5] [3] and has an association with the African wolf (Canis lupaster).
The study also indicated that all North America wolves have a significant amount of coyote ancestry and all coyotes some degree of wolf ancestry, and that the red wolf and eastern wolf are highly admixed with different proportions of gray wolf and coyote ancestry. The study found that coyote ancestry was highest in red wolves from the southeast ...