Members of the dog genus Canis: gray wolves, domestic dogs, dingoes, Ethiopian wolves, coyotes, and golden jackals cannot interbreed with members of the wider dog family: the Canidae, such as South American canids, foxes, African wild dogs, bat-eared foxes or raccoon dogs; or, if they could, their offspring would be infertile.
Members of the genus Canis can, however, all interbreed to produce fertile offspring, with two exceptions: the side-striped jackal and black-backed jackal. (From Wiki, which has a nice little summary.)
Members of the genus Canis can, however, all interbreed to produce fertile offspring, with two exceptions: the side-striped jackal and black-backed jackal. (From Wiki, which has a nice little summary.)
The coywolf — a hybrid of the coyote and the wolf that is also known as the Eastern coyote. According to a new article from "The Economist", their population seems to have reached more than a million. These animals have a completely new genetic makeup: Their genes are about one-quarter wolf DNA and two-thirds coyote DNA; the rest is from domesticated dogs. A 2013 study suggests this dog DNA is mostly from a few specific breeds, including German Shepherds and Doberman Pincers.
Scientists think this intermixing began with wild wolves in southern Ontario about a century or two ago.
While the grey wolf and the coyote are each other's closest living relatives, the two animals separated evolutionarily 1 to 2 million years ago. Usually hybrids — even between two closely related species — don't survive as well as their parent species, but the coywolves seem to be an exception.
ccording to The New York Times' Moises Velazquez-Manoff: "[The coywolf] can be as much as 40 percent larger than the Western coyote, with powerful wolf-like jaws; it has also inherited the wolf's more social nature, which allows for pack hunting." According to "The Economist": "With larger jaws, more muscle and faster legs, individual coywolves can take down small deer. A pack of them can even kill a moose."
The Eastern coyote, an eastern wolf-coyote hybrid, pictured in West Virginia.
Scientists think this intermixing began with wild wolves in southern Ontario about a century or two ago.
While the grey wolf and the coyote are each other's closest living relatives, the two animals separated evolutionarily 1 to 2 million years ago. Usually hybrids — even between two closely related species — don't survive as well as their parent species, but the coywolves seem to be an exception.
ccording to The New York Times' Moises Velazquez-Manoff: "[The coywolf] can be as much as 40 percent larger than the Western coyote, with powerful wolf-like jaws; it has also inherited the wolf's more social nature, which allows for pack hunting." According to "The Economist": "With larger jaws, more muscle and faster legs, individual coywolves can take down small deer. A pack of them can even kill a moose."
The Eastern coyote, an eastern wolf-coyote hybrid, pictured in West Virginia.
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