A Research Strategy to Examine the Taxonomy of the Red Wolf (2020) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Summary
Summary
Pages 1-10
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
The extensive recovery efforts devoted to extant captive and managed red wolves1 (also referred to in this report as the extant red wolves or extant red wolf populations) are not universally popular, and critics of those efforts have argued that they are misplaced because the modern red wolf is not a valid species.
|
From page 2... ...
If, as these discoveries suggest, these two populations are remnant red wolf populations and harbor genetic information unique to red wolves, then the status and evolutionary history of the red wolf needs to be re-examined. Prompted by those discoveries about the canids in southwestern Louisiana and Galveston Island, Texas (referred to as Gulf Coast canids or GCC populations in this report)
|
From page 3... ...
Evidence suggests that some hybridization certainly occurred in the 20th century as red wolf populations dwindled in size while coyotes expanded their range eastward. Second, the extant red wolves may have diverged from coyotes recently enough that they continue to share alleles, even though each species has its own forward evolutionary trajectory -- a situation referred to as incomplete lineage sorting.
|
From page 4... ...
It is unclear how well those populations represent what was once a numerically large, geographically widespread population of canids. EXAMINING THE EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ANCIENT RED WOLVES, THE EXTANT RED WOLF POPULATIONS, AND THE UNIDENTIFIED GULF COAST CANID POPULATIONS The guiding principle for the research strategy described in this report is that it must address the relationships among ancient red wolves, historical red wolves, the extant red wolves, and the unidentified canids along the Gulf Coast (GCC populations)
|
From page 5... ...
Chapter 2 describes morphological, behavioral, and ecological data from specimens and from extant animals. Chapter 3 describes ancient DNA, and Chapter 4 describes genomic data from extant red wolves.
|
From page 6... ...
Anecdotal reports of some historical red wolf samples suggest the presence of hybrid individuals, but no attempt has been made to systematically analyze morphological hybrid signatures in historical red wolf specimens. 2-4: Sexual dimorphism in morphology has been noted in red wolves, but it has neither been systematically evaluated nor used to assess the likelihood of hybridization or of sex-biased introgression processes.
|
From page 7... ...
The behavioral data that exist deserve to be more comprehensively analyzed with regard to hypotheses about hybridization in canids, and morphological indicators of behavior are needed to supplement direct observations of behavior. Recommendation: The committee recommends that existing morphological datasets be submitted to new analytical techniques that are directly comparable to genetic results, that ancient DNA sequencing and morphological analyses be performed on the same individuals, and that new morphological data be collected that are relevant to assessing the ecological and behavioral distinctiveness of historical red wolves in their core range.
|
From page 8... ...
differ in their power to address questions about lineage continuity among the extant red wolves, the GCC populations, and the historical red wolf populations in the southeastern United States. Findings 4-1: Three main types of genomic data have been used to analyze the taxonomic identity of the red wolf.
|
From page 9... ...
Similarly, this analytical approach could be used to determine whether the extant red wolves represent a subset of the GCC populations. 4-4: A number of analytical approaches can provide evidence of hybridization using either RADseq or whole-genome data.
|
From page 10... ...
It can also lead to a robust conclusion about the taxonomic status of the canids identified now as red wolves. Species delimitation remains a difficult and often controversial topic, especially when taxa have recently diverged and there is evidence of past admixture.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.