Timberwolf
| Timberwolf | ||||||||||||
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The wolves of Algonquin Provincial Park are considered the best candidates for surviving timber wolves (diorama in visitor center) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Canis lupus lycaon | ||||||||||||
| Schreber , 1775 |
The Timber Wolf ( Canis lupus lycaon ), also Eastern Wolf , Great Lakes Wolf or Algonquin Wolf , is a taxonomically disputed subspecies of the wolf . Since the monograph by Edward Alphonso Goldman , the name has been used for one of 23 or 24 subspecies of the wolf in North America that is believed to have populated most of the east of the continent. Later, the paleontologist and vertebrate taxonomist Ronald M. Nowak used the name for one of eight subspecies that are native to the Great Lakes area . Later authors, based mainly on contradicting and controversially interpreted genetic data, postulated either the existence of a separate species Canis lycaon , as one of three North American canid species, or they interpreted the populations only as a hybrid zone between the (gray) wolf Canis lupus and the smaller coyote ( Canis latrans ) and / or the red wolf ( Canis rufus ).
To this day, not only the status as a species or subspecies is controversial, but also the existence of an independent clan (either still existing or at least existed in historical times) and its relationship to the red wolf, which can either be an independent species or a subspecies of either Canis lupus or Canis lycaon was and is. The dispute over the status of the timber wolf is also so bitter because, in addition to purely scientific interests, questions of species protection are also affected.
Morphological features
The Timber Wolf is a medium-sized group of wolves that is intermediate in body size between the (gray) wolf Canis lupus of the American West and the coyote. Insofar as the red wolf is differentiated from the Great Lakes wolf, the red wolf is slightly larger than a coyote, but smaller than the Great Lakes wolf. Long confused reports about coat color date back to the earliest scientific reports on wolves in North America. In 1761, Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon reported on a “loup noir” from Canada that was exhibited in Europe. In 1791, William Bartram described a " Lupus niger " with black fur from Florida, which was later equated with the red wolf. In 1775, Johann Christian von Schrebers , based on his illustrations, described Buffon's "loup noir" formally as the species Canis lycaon , whose type locality is Canada, this was subsequently established by Gerrit Smith Miller as a type of Canis lycaon . Later observations in the regions could only confirm a few black wolves there, which are interpreted as color aberrations (blackers). Wolves from Wisconsin , which occurred within the area of the subspecies Canis lupus lycaon defined by Goldman , were morphologically identified as follows (according to Johnston in Nowak 2009): body length 1490 to 1650 millimeters, weight 30 to 45 kilograms, skull length 230 to 268 millimeters, ears moderate large and less conspicuous than the coyote, moderately dense, quite coarse fur, gray on top, blackish from the nape of the neck, whitish to pale underside, ocher to cinnamon-colored head, yellow-brown ears, yellow-brown to cinnamon-colored legs on the outside a more or less conspicuous black line. No significant color difference between summer and winter fur. According to Goldman, the animals in southeastern Ontario and southern Quebec are a little smaller and a little darker in color than those living further west. According to more recent measurements, the animals from the Algonquin Provincial Park reach an average body mass of 24.5 (17 to 23) kilograms in females and 27.7 (19.5 to 36.7) kilograms in males (for comparison: coyote: 10 –18 kg, gray wolf: 24 to 60 kg).
Genetic differentiation
Since the emergence of powerful genetic analysis methods in the 2000s, the discussion about the status and delimitation of the Timberwolf has shifted to genetic markers, since all morphological features are unclear and dependent on interpretation. The problems here were exacerbated by the fact that the eastern wolves ( Canis rufus and / or Canis lycaon ) had been exterminated in the 19th and 20th centuries with the exception of a few, completely isolated relic populations (including that of the Great Lakes). This enabled the coyote, which was not originally native to eastern North America, to expand its range into this region. Evidenced by experimental findings and observations, coyotes and eastern wolves occasionally hybridize, presumably exacerbated by a lack of mating partners in tiny, scattered relic populations. Today detectable genetic similarities between eastern wolves and coyotes could be due to such young hybridizations, they could be based on common alleles that both eastern wolves and coyotes would have inherited from their (common) ancestors, or on any combination of these factors. In 2000, Paul J. Wilson and colleagues presented an influential study according to which the wolves of Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, as the last largely introgression-unaffected population of the eastern "gray" wolf, would form an independent genetic unit together with the red wolf which is specifically different from both the coyote (its sister species ) and the western gray wolf. This common species from the eastern wolf of the Great Lakes region and the red wolf they named Canis lycaon for reasons of priority . So, according to this model, there would be three species of canids in North America. The results were supported in a follow-up study by Christopher Kyle and colleagues in 2006 (although the authors were able to confirm hybridization with both gray wolves and coyotes). Other authors, such as a research group led by Bridgett M. von Holdt from Princeton University in a series of articles, contradict their interpretation of the data that there are only two species in North America (the gray wolf Canis lupus and the coyote Canis latrans ) and various on hybridization between these declining populations, which would also include the red wolf and the timber wolf. According to other genetic studies, such as Stephan Koblmüller and colleagues, the Great Lakes wolf would be an ecotype of the gray wolf adapted to the smaller prey in the region; all genetic peculiarities are therefore due to the introgression of recently immigrated coyotes. This was contradicted by various authors from Wilson's group, the dispute has not yet been resolved.
Species protection
In 1967, " Canis lupus lycaon ", with a distribution area from Minnesota to eastern Canada, was placed under species protection on the basis of the Endangered Species Protection Act . Some taxonomists, based on coat color and historical reports soon afterwards, postulated that the animals from Minnesota actually belonged to the otherwise extinct subspecies Canis lupus nubilus with distribution in the Great Plains ), This was later supported by Nowak on the basis of skull measurements. Whether the wolves in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota are gray wolves ( Canis lupus , hybrids between gray wolves and the Great Lakes or Timber wolves of Canada and gray wolves, and whether this distinction is justified at all, was presented differently based on the contradicting expert opinions. A particular problem here is whether special protection is justified if the gray wolf is no longer considered to be threatened.
In Canada, the "Algonquin Wolf" ( Canis lupus lycaon ) is recognized as an independent unit in the rank of a subspecies of the gray wolf, which has enjoyed special species protection since 2016 under the Ontario Endangered Species Act.
Others
The pack of timber wolves housed in the Adler- und Wolfspark Kasselburg in an area of 10 hectares is considered to be the largest pack of wolves in Western Europe.
The Minnesota Timberwolves , a basketball team in the North American NBA , are named after the Timberwolf.
The nickname of the 104th Infantry Division of the United States Army is Timberwolf . It was used in World War II and was involved, among other things, in taking Halle an der Saale without a fight .
literature
- Günter and Karin Bloch: Face to face with the wolf - 20 years on the road with wild wolves . Kynos Verlag 2009, ISBN 344011452X , ISBN 978-3440114520
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Ronald M. Nowak: Taxonomy, Morphology, and Genetics of Wolves in the Great Lakes Region. Chapter 15 in: Adrian P. Wydeven, Timothy R. van Deelen, Edward Heske (editors): Recovery of Gray Wolves in the Great Lakes Region of the United States. An Endangered Species Success Story. Springer Verlag, New York 2009. ISBN 978-0-387-85952-1 , doi: 10.1007 / 978-0-387-85952-1_15
- ↑ Pimlott et al. 1969, quoted from Richard P. Thiel & Adrian P. Wydeven: Eastern Wolf (Canis lycaon) Status Assessment Report, Covering East-Central North America. November 2011. Report submitted to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Tomah and Park Falls, Wisconsin.
- ↑ Paul J. Wilson, Sonya Grewal, Ian D. Lawford, Jennifer NM Heal, Angela G. Granacki, David Pennock, John B. Theberge, Mary T. Theberge, Dennis R. Voigt, Will Waddell, Robert E. Chambers, Paul C. Paquet, Gloria Goulet, Dean Cluff, Bradley N. White (2000): DNA profiles of the eastern Canadian wolf and the red wolf provide evidence for a common evolutionary history independent of the gray wolf. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78: 2156-2166.
- ^ CJ Kyle, AR Johnson, BR Patterson, PJ Wilson, K. Shami, SK Grewal, BN White (2006): Genetic nature of eastern wolves: Past, present and future. Conservation Genetics 7: 273. doi: 10.1007 / s10592-006-9130-0
- ↑ Bridgett M. von Holdt, James A. Cahill, Zhenxin Fan, Ilan Gronau, Jacqueline Robinson, John P. Pollinger, Beth Shapiro, Jeff Wall, Robert K. Wayne (2016): Whole-genome sequence analysis shows that two endemic species of North American wolf are admixtures of the coyote and gray wolf. Science Advances 2 (7): e1501714. doi: 10.1126 / sciadv.1501714
- ^ Stephan Koblmüller, Maria Nord, Robert K. Wayne, Jennifer A. Leonard (2009): Origin and status of the Great Lakes wolf. Molecular Ecology 18: 2313-2326. doi: 10.1111 / j.1365-294X.2009.04176.x
- ↑ Environment and Climate Change Canada (2017): Management Plan for the Eastern Wolf (Canis lupus lycaon) in Canada [Proposed], Species at Risk Act Management Plan Series, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ottawa, vi + 52 p.