I'm working on a project depicting the various wolves of North America, anthro style in their typical habitat. I'm using the more recent science regarding wolf subspecies and species, which is more streamlined and results in 5 subspecies in North America instead of 24, and 2 distinct species.

So, to start out with, here is a female Eastern Timber Wolf, Canis rufus lycaon or Canis lycaon, depending on who you ask. Why no C. lupus lycaon?

There is some controversy regarding the classification of eastern wolves. It was originally assumed that the wolves of the northeast were a gray wolf subspecies, Canis lupus lycaon, and that this subspecies included the wolves of the Great Lakes region. Meanwhile, the red wolf was supposed to be limited to the southeastern US.

However, scientists studying wolves in eastern Canada, particularly Algonquin National Park, have long been aware of the fact that the local wolf population seems quite a bit different from the typical gray wolf, being smaller and redder in color. Because of this, genetic testing was performed, only to find that rather than being gray wolves, the Algonquin wolves were more closely related to the red wolf of the southeastern US. Further tests were performed on taxidermy specimens from the northeastern US, only to find similar results. Because of this, there are two current schools of thought. One is that the eastern timber wolf is actually one in the same as the red wolf, and that the Algonquin wolves represent a northern subspecies, of the same type that would likely have inhabited the northern US east of the Great Lakes area. Meanwhile, Great Lakes region "timber wolves" were likely to be the same subspecies as the Great Plains wolf, C. lupus nubilus. I find this argument fairly convincing, because if you compare pictures of red wolves and Algonquin wolves, they look very similar except for the larger ears of the southern wolves and the thicker fur of the northern wolves, which are both very common adaptations for any southern and northern subspecies. Meanwhile, they don't look at all similar to the wolves of the Great Lakes region. The second theory is that the eastern timber wolf is its own distinct third species, but that it is more closely related to the red wolf than the gray wolf. In either case, red and eastern wolves represent a more ancient variety of wolf that evolved in North America, while the gray wolf evolved in Eurasia and migrated across the land bridge at a later time.

You can read more about these theories here:

http://www.sbaa.ca/projects.asp?cn=314

11" x 14" Watercolor, colored pencil and pen on Bristol board.

© Wolfote

Please don't use my art without permission.