Cascade mountain wolf

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Cascade Mountains wolf
Illustration based on a description by Edward Alphonso Goldman
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Caninae
Genus: Canis
Species:
C. lupus
Subspecies:
C. l. fuscus
Trinomial name
Canis lupus fuscus
Richardson, 1839[1]
Former range of the Cascade Mountain wolf
Synonyms[2]
List
    • Canis lupus gigas
    • Lupus gigas Townsend, 1850
    • Canis gigas

The Cascade mountain wolf (Canis lupus fuscus) is a subspecies of the gray wolf that is found in coastal British Columbia. It historically inhabited Oregon, Washington, and California, but has been extirpated in those areas.[3] It has a cinnamon-coloured coat and is a large wolf, measuring 165 cm (65 in).

Currently, the Cascade mountain wolf is found around the British Columbia Coast. Its ancestors migrated from the Great Plains into the Cascade Range once the Cordilleran ice sheet retreated there.

Taxonomy

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It was originally identified as a variety of wolf by Scottish naturalist Sir John Richardson in 1839, classifying wolves from northern California and the Columbia valley into this variety.[4] Edward Goldman classified it as a subspecies of wolf in 1945.[5] It is recognized as a subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005).[6]

Evolution

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Gray wolves (Canis lupus) migrated from Eurasia into North America 70,000–23,000 years ago and gave rise to at least two morphologically and genetically distinct groups.[7] One group is represented by the extinct Beringian wolf and the other by the modern populations.[8][9] One author proposes that the Cascade mountains wolf forms part of a clade whose ancestors were the second wolves to cross the Bering land bridge into North America.[10]

Until the end of the Pleistocene, the area in which the Cascade mountain wolf inhabited was covered in the Cordilleran ice sheet. After these sheets retreated, wolves from the Southern Great Plains migrated into this area.[11]

Description

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It is a cinnamon-coloured wolf, measuring 165 cm (65 in) and weighing 36–49 kg (79–108 lb).[12] This subspecies was also referred as the "brown wolf" because of its cinnamon or buff fur.[13]

Distribution

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This subspecies was found in Pacific Northwest, and was one of three coastal wolf subspecies found in the British Columbia Coast. Its range extended southwards to Northern California and northeastern Nevada.[14] The Cascade mountain wolf was found in southeastern Alaska, which marked the northern limit of its range.[15]

The southernmost specimen of this subspecies was an individual who was trapped in Lassen County, California, in 1924.[16] This was the last wolf in California before OR-7 travelled into the state from Oregon in December 2011.[17][18] Currently, it is found around the coast of central British Columbia, including the islands surrounding it, such as Porcher, Pitt, Banks, Aristazabal, and Price.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Canis lupus fuscus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 532–628. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  3. ^ Weckworth, Byron V.; Dawson, Natalie G.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Flamme, Melanie J.; Cook, Joseph A. (2011-05-04). Fleischer, Robert C. (ed.). "Going Coastal: Shared Evolutionary History between Coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska Wolves (Canis lupus)". PLOS ONE. 6 (5) e19582. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...619582W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019582. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3087762. PMID 21573241.
  4. ^ Joshua Ross Ginsberg; David David Whyte Macdonald (1990). Foxes, Wolves, Jackals, and Dogs: An Action Plan for the Conservation of Canids. IUCN. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-2-88032-996-9.
  5. ^ Barry Lopez (2004). Of Wolves and Men. Simon and Schuster. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-0-7432-4936-2.
  6. ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 575–577. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. [1]
  7. ^ Koblmüller, Stephan; Vilà, Carles; Lorente-Galdos, Belen; Dabad, Marc; Ramirez, Oscar; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Wayne, Robert K.; Leonard, Jennifer A. (2016). "Whole mitochondrial genomes illuminate ancient intercontinental dispersals of grey wolves ( Canis lupus )". Journal of Biogeography. 43 (9): 1728–1738. Bibcode:2016JBiog..43.1728K. doi:10.1111/jbi.12765. ISSN 0305-0270.
  8. ^ Tomiya, Susumu; Meachen, Julie A. (2018). "Postcranial diversity and recent ecomorphic impoverishment of North American gray wolves". Biology Letters. 14 (1) 20170613. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2017.0613. ISSN 1744-9561. PMC 5803591. PMID 29343558.
  9. ^ Leonard, Jennifer A.; Vilà, Carles; Fox-Dobbs, Kena; Koch, Paul L.; Wayne, Robert K.; Van Valkenburgh, Blaire (2007). "Megafaunal Extinctions and the Disappearance of a Specialized Wolf Ecomorph". Current Biology. 17 (13): 1146–1150. Bibcode:2007CBio...17.1146L. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.05.072. hdl:10261/61282. PMID 17583509.
  10. ^ Chambers SM, Fain SR, Fazio B, Amaral M (2012). "An account of the taxonomy of North American wolves from morphological and genetic analyses". North American Fauna. 77: 1–67. doi:10.3996/nafa.77.0001. Note:"The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."
  11. ^ Laufer, Jack; Jenkins, Peter T. (1989). A preliminary study of gray wolf history and status in the region of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Washington Wolf Project. LCCN 90101905. OL 1901193M.
  12. ^ David Day (1981). The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species. Universe Books ltd. ISBN 0-947889-30-2.
  13. ^ Mech, L. David (1970). The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species. American Museum of Natural History. p. 350. ISBN 978-0-385-08660-8.
  14. ^ Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America. Vol. 2. New York, NY: Dover Publications. pp. 455–458. ISBN 978-0-486-21193-0. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  15. ^ Darimont, Chris T.; Paquet, Paul C. (2002). "Gray Wolves, Canis lupus, of British Columbia's Central and North Coast: Distribution and Conservation Assessment". The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 116 (3): 416–422. doi:10.5962/p.363480. ISSN 0008-3550.
  16. ^ Schmidt, Robert H. (1991). "Gray wolves in California: their presence and absence". California Fish and Wildlife Journal. 7 (2). California Fish and Game: 79–85.
  17. ^ Lee, Renee (January 18, 2012). "California Welcomes Wild Wolf for First time in 87 Years". United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  18. ^ Kane, Will (March 3, 2012). "California Wolf Is Back in Oregon". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. ISSN 1932-8672. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  19. ^ Pisano, Robert (1979). "Does the Cascade Wolf Survive?". Oryx. 15 (2): 185–190. doi:10.1017/S0030605300024315. ISSN 1365-3008.