Evaluating the Taxonomic Status of the Mexican Gray Wolf and the Red Wolf (2019) / Chapter Skim
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4 Is the Mexican Gray Wolf a Valid Subspecies?
4 Is the Mexican Gray Wolf a Valid Subspecies?
Pages 41-50
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From page 41... ...
. It has been suggested that Mexican gray wolves may not have sufficient morphological and genetic differences from other wolf populations to justify their status as a valid subspecies.
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Nowak (1995) condensed 24 previously recognized North American gray wolf subspecies into five sub pecies, including C
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From page 43... ...
. Analyses of 40 whole-genome sequences that represent the extant diversity of North American gray wolves and other wolf-like canid populations have demonstrated that extant Mexican gray wolves show signatures of low population sizes, with low heterozygosity and high inbreeding coefficients (Sinding et al., 2018)
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From page 44... ...
, and extant Mexican gray wolves came from only seven founders that may have included dog ancestry (although genetic data indicate this is improbable and/or of small genetic importance; GarciaMoreno et al., 1996; Hedrick et al., 1997)
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From page 45... ...
FWS (2017b) describes the historical habitat use of the Mexican gray wolf as follows: "Historically, Mexican gray wolves were associated with montane woodlands characterized by sparsely to densely forested mountainous terrain and adjacent grasslands in habitats found at elevations of 1,219–1,524 m." Wolves were known to occupy habitats ranging from foothills characterized by the presence of evergreen oaks (Quercus spp.)
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From page 46... ...
. Findings: Extant wild Mexican gray wolves behave similarly to other North American gray wolves within the confines of the human-constricted Mexican gray wolf recovery area; their wild behavior prior to their 1970 extirpation in the wild is unknown.
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From page 47... ...
(2005) , Mexican gray wolves were historically part of a monophyletic clade, referred to as the "southern clade," which consisted of the mitochondrial haplotype of extant Mexican gray wolves and closely related haplotypes found in museum specimens that extended further north into the southern Rockies and Great Plains -- a finding that is consistent with the Mexican gray wolf having a larger geographic range historically than it does today.
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From page 48... ...
SYNTHESIS OF FINDINGS Mexican gray wolves are distinct from other North American gray wolves morphologically, paleontologically, genetically, genomically, behaviorally, and ecologically. Conclusion The Mexican gray wolf is a valid taxonomic subspecies of the gray wolf, Canis lupus, as currently classified as Canis lupus baileyi.
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From page 49... ...
2018. Genome-wide analysis of SNPs is consistent with no domestic dog ancestry in the endangered Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)
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From page 50... ...
2017a. Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Plan, 1st revision.
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