Gray Wolf
hideThe grey wolf or gray wolf (Canis lupus), also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago. DNA sequencing and genetic drift studies reaffirm that the gray wolf shares a common ancestry with the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris). Although certain aspects of this conclusion have been questioned, including recently, the main body of evidence confirms it. A number of other gray wolf subspecies have been identified, though the actual number of subspecies is still open to discussion. Gray wolves are typically apex predators in the ecosystems they occupy. Though not as adaptable as more generalist canid species, wolves have thrived in temperate forests, deserts, mountains, tundra, taiga, grasslands, and even urban areas.
Though once abundant over much of Eurasia and North America, the gray wolf inhabits a very small portion of its former range because of widespread destruction of its territory, human encroachment of its habitat, and the resulting human-wolf encounters that sparked broad extirpation. Even so, the gray wolf is regarded as being of least concern for extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, when the entire gray wolf population is considered as a whole. Today, wolves are protected in some areas, hunted for sport in others, or may be subject to extermination as perceived threats to livestock and pets.
In areas where human cultures and wolves are sympatric, wolves frequently feature in the folklore and mythology of those cultures, both positively and negatively.
For more information about Gray Wolf, read the full article at
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News tagged with gray wolves
New clues to the Falklands wolf mystery
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Ever since the Falklands wolf was described by Darwin himself, the origin of this now-extinct canid found only on the Falkland Islands far off the east coast of Argentina has remained a mystery. Now, researchers ...
Lawsuits over wolf hunting filed in Mont., Wyo.
Jun 02, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A pair of federal judges will decide which states in the Northern Rockies have enough gray wolves to allow public hunting, as the bitter debate over the region's wolves heads to courts in Wyoming and Montana.
Inbreeding taking toll on Michigan wolves
Apr 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The two dozen or so gray wolves that wander an island chain in northwestern Lake Superior are suffering from backbone malformations caused by genetic inbreeding, posing yet another challenge to their ...
Black wolves: The first genetically modified predators?
Biology /
Feb 05, 2009 |
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Emergence of black-colored wolves is the direct result of humans raising dogs as pets and beasts of burden, according to new research by a University of Calgary biologist published today by the prestigious ...
Search results for gray wolves
Why circumcision reduces HIV risk
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 24, 2009 |
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The decreased risk of HIV infection in circumcised men cannot be explained by a reduction in sores from conditions such as herpes, according to research published in PLoS Medicine.
In the Brain, Seven Is A Magic Number
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Having a tough time recalling a phone number someone spoke a few minutes ago or forgetting items from a mental grocery list is not a sign of mental decline; in fact, it's natural.
New neuroimaging analysis technique identifies impact of Alzheimer's disease gene in healthy brains
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Brain imaging can offer a window into risk for diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). A study conducted at the University of Kansas School of Medicine demonstrated that genetic risk is expressed in the brains of even ...
Spotting evidence of directed percolation
Nov 17, 2009 |
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A team of physicists has, for the first time, seen convincing experimental evidence for directed percolation, a phenomenon that turns up in computer models of the ways diseases spread through a population ...
Researcher wants to tip the scales for northern lizard
Nov 16, 2009 |
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Armed with eyelash glue, a walking stick and a faithful horse, University of Alberta researcher Krista Fink is hoping to help Canada's most northern lizard get off the species-at-risk list.
Skunk's Strategy Not Just Black and White
Nov 10, 2009 |
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Predators with experience of skunks avoid them both because of their black-and-white coloration and their distinctive body shape, according to UC Davis wildlife researcher Jennifer Hunter. The study was published ...
First use of antibody and stem cell transplantation to successfully treat advanced leukemia
Nov 05, 2009 |
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For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have reported the use of a radiolabeled antibody to deliver targeted doses of radiation, followed by a stem cell transplant, to successfully treat ...
Obesity significantly increases side effects of stereotactic body radiation therapy in lung cancer patients
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Obesity, not the amount of radiation given, is the greatest factor in whether early-stage lung cancer patients develop chest wall pain after receiving stereotactic body radiation therapy to the chest wall, with obese patients ...
Wolves, moose and biodiversity: An unexpected connection
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity?
Researchers find brain cell transplants help repair neural damage
Oct 29, 2009 |
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A Swiss research team has found that using an animal's own brain cells (autologous transplant) to replace degenerated neurons in select brain areas of donor primates with simulated but asymptomatic Parkinson's disease and ...
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