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Photo of the Day #476: Red wolf

By laelaps on January 28, 2009.

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A red wolf (Canis lupus rufus), photographed at the North Carolina Zoo.


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mammals
Photography

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I think that red wolves should be designated as either Canis rufus or Canis latrans rufus (that last may be too heretical). My understanding is that Red Wolves, Coyotes, and Eastern Wolves (Canis lycaon or C. lupus lycaon) are descended from a common North American ancestor while Gray Wolves (C. lupus) re-colonized North America via the Bering land bridge during the latter part of the Pleistocene. In any case, it seems odd to lump either C. lycaon or C. rufus in with Gray Wolves when they seem to be more closely related to Coyotes.