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Canadian wolf |
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He is a wild animal |
Origin |
Canada | |
Translation |
Francis Vandersteen |
| The possession of this animal is not authorized |
| The Canadian wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis) is a subspecies of the gray wolf whose range covers western Canada and Alaska. It is also known as the Canadian and Alaskan wolf, the Alberta wolf and the Mackenzie Valley wolf. Grey wolves vary greatly in appearance depending on their region of origin. Many subspecies have been described on the basis of a few individuals, without taking into account the natural phenotypic variability of the species. Edward Alphonso Goldman described 24 different American subspecies in 1944. Current research is based on multifactorial criteria such as morphology, paleontology, behavior and genetic analysis. This reorientation of subspecies description has led to a considerable reduction in the number of subspecies, considering that most are local adaptations of the Canis lupus species. In 1983, Nowak proposed reducing American wolves to five subspecies: Canis lupus occidentalis, arctos, baileyi, nubilus and lycaon. His argument was based on the geographic separation of five wolf populations in North America during the Pleistocene glaciation, a lasting isolation that would have enabled the different forms to be formed. The five wolf forms were later confirmed by genetic studies. |
English (United Kingdom) 
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