Yesterday I read and re-read Roland Kays and Robert Wayne's(et,al) --GENOME-WIDE PERSPECTIVE ON EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF ENIGMATIC WOLF-LIKE CANIDS--------I summarize below their findings and beliefs on the genetic makeup and origens of Wolves and Coyotes in North America.......................As I pointed out in yesterdays Posting, there is a 2nd competing and opposing viewpoint to Kays/Wayne's hypothesis that all the Groupings of Wolves in North America emanated from the Gray Wolf C.lupus through various hybridization events with Western Coyotes.........This other Group of Geneticists, Biologists and Taxonomists believe strongly that our Eastern/Red Wolf(C. lycaon/C.rufus) are its own species and while closely related to Coyotes, are distinctive unto themselves as a wolf species.............I find it fascinating and stimulating to evaluate both sides of this debate(It is what jump started this blog over a year ago)...........Analagous to the point/counterpoint debate on wolves is the debate about what caused the demise of our enigmatic mega-fauna(sabertooth cats, dire wolves, short face bears, etc, etc) where one faction of researcher feels that prehistoric hunters went on a genocide mission killing all of the giant mammoths and mastadons..........thus eventually sending all of the giant carnivores into extinction.............Other researchers feel that a changing climate did in the mega fauna..............and a third group of Scientists feel that introduced human pathogens and domestic dog diseases spread to wildlife and sent them "going, going, gone!!!!!!!!!!............We will continue to follow and publish both sides of the wolf/coyote origen and species debate as the data reveals itself to us

-The Old World and the New World Gray Wolf (C.lupus) are genetically distinctive from each other

-The New World Gray Wolf(C.lupus) is the founder Wolf for all wolves in North America

-There are 7 gene structure profiles and regional habitat groupings of of Wolves in North America(all emanating from the Gray Wolf(C.lupus)---all of the 7 are subspecies of the Gray Wolf and not distinct and separate species:
     a.Eastern Atlantic Forest

     b.Northern Canada taiga and tundra

     c. Rocky Mountain Forest

     d. Alaska and Canadian Boreal woods

     e. Western Coastal and British Columbia Coast

     f.Mexico Aridlands(2 lineages)

-There are 3 groupings of Coyotes in North America

     a. Western

     b. Midwestern and Southern

     c. Northeastern

-Great Lakes Wolves and Red Wolves are genetically differentiated and do not share a common origen

-Red Wolves are genetically similar to Coyotes

-Great Lakes and Mexican Wolves are most similar genetically to Gray Wolves

-Great Lakes Wolves are 50 to as much as 100% shared ancestry with Gray Wolves;some have no coyote ancestry especially those living in Western and Northern locations

-Algonquin Park Wolves in Canada which were thought to be similar to Great Lakes Wolves do not genetically bear out this way. In fact, Algonquin Wolves have the

largest % of their genome assigned to coyotes

-Red Wolves, Great Lakes Wolves and Mexican Wolves each have distinctive genetic signatures

-On average, Great Lakes Wolves have 15% of their genome assigned to coyotes

-On average, Red Wolves have 76% of their genome assigned to coyotes

- On average, Algonquin Wolves have 42% of their genome assigned to coyotes

-On average, Northeastern Coyotes(Coywolves) have 9% Gray Wolf ancestry

-On average Southeastern Coyotes have 4% Gray Wolf ancestry

-On average, Midwestern Coyotes have 1.4% Gray Wolf ancestry

-On average, Northeastern Coyotes have 9% dog ancestry

-On average Midwest and Southeastern Coytes have 4% dog ancestry

-Gray Wolves and Coyotes first admixed 546 to 963 years ago--prior to the recent invasion of coyotes over the last 100 years)

-Wolves in the Southeast(now called Red Wolves) admixed with Coyotes 287 to 430 years ago as European colonization changed land use in this region

-Northeastern Coyotes and Wolves in the Northeast admixed 100 years ago...........Dogs admixed with Northeastern Coyotes 30 years ago

-habitat related structural differences in the different regions of North America are not responsible for the differences among the the 7 gene structure Wolf groupings

-In highly mobile carnivores(like wolves and Coyotes), ecologic functions of the carivores(what they prey on) has a key role in restructuring gene flow among different regional population(epigenetics)

-Coyotes are not as highly genetically structured as Wolves ....but still are clustered by regional groupings

-Great Lakes Wolves and Western Coyotes(emanating from the Midwest) hybridization event spawns the Eastern Coyotes

-The "canis soup" admixed Eastern Wolves and Eastern Coyotes may provide better top down trophic ecological function(preying on deer) than Gray Wolves--implications for future rewilding efforts

in Eastern States

-The bottom line is that ecological function rather than taxonomic considerations should be integral in deciding which species of Wolf should be protected and restored to specific regions of North America