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146-474: ʿAin Mallaha has one of the earliest known archaeological evidence of dog domestication . This site is located in the Hula Valley of northern Israel , 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of the Sea of Galilee , and is in an area surrounded by hills and located by an ancient lake, Lake Huleh . At the time of its Natufian inhabitance, the area was heavily forested in oak, almond, and pistachio trees. Evidence of settlement at Mallaha or ʿAin Mallaha dates back to

292-422: A Beringia refuge to repopulate the wolf's former range, replacing the remaining Late Pleistocene wolf populations across Eurasia and North America as they did so. This source population probably did not give rise to dogs, but it admixed with dogs which allowed them to gain coat colour genes that are also related to immunity. There is little genetic information available on the ancient wolves that existed prior to

438-506: A literature review found that this East Asian study sampled only east Asian indigenous dogs and compared their patterns of genetic diversity to those of breed dogs from other geographic regions. As it is known that the genetic bottlenecks associated with formation of breeds strongly reduce genetic diversity, this was not an appropriate comparison. One DNA study concluded that dogs originated in Central Asia because dogs from there exhibit

584-552: A mated pair accompanied by their offspring. Offspring may leave to form their own packs on the onset of sexual maturity and in response to competition for food within the pack. Wolves are also territorial , and fights over territory are among the principal causes of mortality. The wolf is mainly a carnivore and feeds on large wild hooved mammals as well as smaller animals, livestock, carrion , and garbage. Single wolves or mated pairs typically have higher success rates in hunting than do large packs. Pathogens and parasites, notably

730-521: A taxonomic synonym for the dingo . Wozencraft referred to a 1999 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) study as one of the guides in forming his decision, and listed the 38 subspecies of C. lupus under the biological common name of "wolf", the nominate subspecies being the Eurasian wolf ( C. l. lupus ) based on the type specimen that Linnaeus studied in Sweden. Studies using paleogenomic techniques reveal that

876-707: A European origin for dogs that was estimated at 18,800–32,100 YBP based on the genetic relationship of 78% of the sampled dogs with ancient canid specimens found in Europe. The data supports the hypothesis that dog domestication preceded the emergence of agriculture and was initiated close to the Last Glacial Maximum when hunter-gatherers preyed on megafauna . The study found that three ancient Belgium canids (the 36,000 YBP "Goyet dog" cataloged as Canis species, along with two specimens dated 30,000 YBP and 26,000 YBP cataloged as Canis lupus ) formed an ancient clade that

1022-510: A breakdown in their culture and change of their beliefs, or adopt innovative approaches. The adoption of the large wolf/dog was an adaptation to this hostile environment. A criticism of the European proposal is that dogs in East Asia show more genetic diversity. However, dramatic differences in genetic diversity can be influenced both by an ancient and recent history of inbreeding. A counter-comment

1168-520: A broader snout, shorter ears, a shorter torso and a longer tail. It is slender and powerfully built, with a large, deeply descending rib cage , a sloping back, and a heavily muscled neck. The wolf's legs are moderately longer than those of other canids, which enables the animal to move swiftly, and to overcome the deep snow that covers most of its geographical range in winter, though more short-legged ecomorphs are found in some wolf populations. The ears are relatively small and triangular. The wolf's head

1314-483: A change in the types of prey available during the Ice Age, giving an advantage to wolves with a certain head shape. "This is the first time scientists have directly tracked natural selection in a large animal [the wolf] over a time-scale of 100,000 years, seeing evolution play out in real time rather than trying to reconstruct it from DNA today," said study senior author Pontus Skoglund. ... Remove domestication from

1460-568: A common ancestor. Using genetic timing, this clade's most recent common ancestor dates to 28,500 YBP. The first dogs were certainly wolflike; however, the phenotypic changes that coincided with the dog–wolf genetic divergence are not known. Identifying the earliest dogs is difficult because the key morphological characters that are used by zooarchaeologists to differentiate domestic dogs from their wild wolf ancestors (size and position of teeth, dental pathologies, and size and proportion of cranial and postcranial elements) were not yet fixed during

1606-419: A common ancestry and descended from an ancient, now-extinct wolf population – or closely related wolf populations – which was distinct from the modern wolf lineage. The dog's similarity to the grey wolf is the result of substantial dog-into-wolf gene flow , with the modern grey wolf being the dog's nearest living relative. An extinct Late Pleistocene wolf may have been the ancestor of the dog. The dog

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1752-544: A common recent ancestor estimated to 16,000–24,000 YBP. Clade D contained sequences from 2 Scandinavian breeds – the Jamthund and Norwegian Elkhound – and is the sister group to another 14,500 YBP wolf sequence also from the Kesserloch cave, with a common recent ancestor estimated to 18,300 YBP. Its branch is phylogenetically rooted in the same sequence as the "Altai dog" (not a direct ancestor). The data from this study indicated

1898-489: A controllable size to coexist with humans, indicating the family Canidae , and the right temperament with wolves being among the most gregarious and cooperative animals on the planet. Ancient DNA supports the hypothesis that dog domestication preceded the emergence of agriculture and was initiated close to the Last Glacial Maximum when hunter-gatherers preyed on megafauna , and when proto-dogs might have taken advantage of carcasses left on site by early hunters, assisted in

2044-448: A family of eight wolves (two adults, juveniles, and yearlings), or sometimes two or three such families, with examples of exceptionally large packs consisting of up to 42 wolves being known. Cortisol levels in wolves rise significantly when a pack member dies, indicating the presence of stress. During times of prey abundance caused by calving or migration, different wolf packs may join together temporarily. Offspring typically stay in

2190-433: A few times and then retreating from a perceived danger. Aggressive or self-assertive wolves are characterized by their slow and deliberate movements, high body posture and raised hackles , while submissive ones carry their bodies low, flatten their fur, and lower their ears and tail. Scent marking involves urine, feces, and preputial and anal gland scents. This is more effective at advertising territory than howling and

2336-406: A herd of African elephants. And then, we go into partnership with this group of wolves. They altered our relationship with the natural world. ... Animal domestication is a coevolutionary process in which a population responds to selective pressure while adapting to a novel niche that included another species with evolving behaviours. One of the most important transitions in human history

2482-500: A large part of their quarry before other predators had detected the kill. One study proposed that during the Last Glacial Maximum, some of our ancestors teamed up with those pastoralist wolves and learned their techniques. Many early humans remained gatherers and scavengers, or specialized as fish-hunters, hunter-gatherers, and hunter-gardeners. However, some adopted the pastoralist wolves' lifestyle as herd followers and herders of reindeer, horses, and other hoofed animals. They harvested

2628-666: A museum specimen of a wolf from southern China collected in 1963 showed a genome that was 12–14% admixed from this unknown canid. In North America, some coyotes and wolves show varying degrees of past genetic admixture . In more recent times, some male Italian wolves originated from dog ancestry, which indicates female wolves will breed with male dogs in the wild. In the Caucasus Mountains , ten percent of dogs including livestock guardian dogs , are first generation hybrids. Although mating between golden jackals and wolves has never been observed, evidence of jackal-wolf hybridization

2774-448: A new ecological niche . For a long time scientists assumed that dogs evolved from the modern grey wolf. But a study published in 2014 concluded that this was incorrect, and that dogs are descended from an extinct type of wolf. It was such a long standing view that the gray wolf that we know today was around for hundreds of thousands of years and that dogs derived from them. We're very surprised that they're not. The date estimated for

2920-476: A preference for larger prey which results in larger wolves. Considerable morphological diversity existed among grey wolves by the Late Pleistocene. These are regarded as having been more cranio-dentally robust than modern grey wolves, often with a shortened rostrum , the pronounced development of the temporalis muscle, and robust premolars . It is proposed that these features were specialized adaptations for

3066-749: A press release by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1921, the infamous Custer Wolf relied on coyotes to accompany him and warn him of danger. Though they fed from his kills, he never allowed them to approach him. Interactions have been observed in Eurasia between wolves and golden jackals, the latter's numbers being comparatively small in areas with high wolf densities. Wolves also kill red , Arctic and corsac foxes , usually in disputes over carcasses, sometimes eating them. Brown bears typically dominate wolf packs in disputes over carcasses, while wolf packs mostly prevail against bears when defending their den sites. Both species kill each other's young. Wolves eat

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3212-449: A profound influence on the course of early human history and the development of civilization. The questions of when and where dogs were first domesticated have taxed geneticists and archaeologists for decades. Genetic studies suggest a domestication process commencing over 25,000 YBP, in one or several wolf populations in either Europe, the high Arctic, or eastern Asia. There is clear evidence that dogs were derived from grey wolves during

3358-481: A study found this indication to be incorrect because there had been hybridization between dogs and Middle Eastern grey wolves. In 2012, a study indicated that dogs derived from wolves originating in the Middle East and Europe and this was consistent with the archaeological record. In 2014, a genomic study found that no modern wolf from any region was any more genetically closer to the dog than any other, implying that

3504-409: A variety of arthropod exoparasites, including fleas , ticks , lice , and mites . The most harmful to wolves, particularly pups, is the mange mite ( Sarcoptes scabiei ), though they rarely develop full-blown mange , unlike foxes. Endoparasites known to infect wolves include: protozoans and helminths ( flukes , tapeworms , roundworms and thorny-headed worms ). Most fluke species reside in

3650-411: A weight of 69–79 kg (152–174 lb). The wolf has very dense and fluffy winter fur, with a short undercoat and long, coarse guard hairs . Most of the undercoat and some guard hairs are shed in spring and grow back in autumn. The longest hairs occur on the back, particularly on the front quarters and neck. Especially long hairs grow on the shoulders and almost form a crest on the upper part of

3796-424: A wild wolf. There also exists a number of cases where wild wolves have approached people in remote places, attempting to initiate play and to form companionship. One such notable wolf was Romeo , a gentle black wolf that formed relationships with the people and dogs of Juneau, Alaska. This view holds that before there could have been domestication of the wolf, there had to have been its socialization. Even today,

3942-533: A wolf-like morphology. Perhaps when humans became more sedentary and dogs became closely associated with them was there selection for smaller, phenotypically distinct dogs, even if a reduced body size in dogs may have occurred before agriculture. When, where, and how many times wolves may have been domesticated remains debated because only a small number of ancient specimens have been found, and both archaeology and genetics continue to provide conflicting evidence. The most widely accepted earliest dog remains are those of

4088-412: Is a Latin term meaning uncertain). Phylogenetic analyses of these canids revealed nine mDNA haplotypes not detected before. The Canis cf. variabilis specimen clustered with other wolf samples from across Russia and Asia. The mDNA haplotypes of one 8,750 YBP specimen and some 28,000 YBP specimens matched with those of geographically widely-spread modern dogs. One 47,000 YBP canid from Duvanny Yar (which

4234-469: Is a wolf-like canid . The genetic divergence between the dog's ancestor and modern wolves occurred between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, just before or during the Last Glacial Maximum (20,000–27,000 years ago). This timespan represents the upper time-limit for the commencement of domestication because it is the time of divergence but not the time of domestication, which occurred later. One of

4380-608: Is a process that is difficult to define. The term was developed by anthropologists with a human-centric view in which humans took wild animals ( ungulates ) and bred them to be "domestic", usually in order to provide improved food or materials for human consumption. That term may not be appropriate for a large carnivore such as the dog. This alternate view regards dogs as being either socialized and able to live among humans, or unsocialized. There exist today dogs that live with their human families but are unsocialized and will threaten strangers defensively and aggressively no differently than

4526-471: Is difficult and ambiguous, with some authors choosing to include C. mosbachensis (which first appeared around 1.4 million years ago) as an early subspecies of C. lupus. Considerable morphological diversity existed among wolves by the Late Pleistocene . Many Late Pleistocene wolf populations had more robust skulls and teeth than modern wolves, often with a shortened snout , a pronounced development of

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4672-521: Is dominated by wild medium-sized hoofed mammals and domestic species. The wolf depends on wild species, and if these are not readily available, as in Asia, the wolf is more reliant on domestic species. Across Eurasia, wolves prey mostly on moose , red deer , roe deer and wild boar . In North America, important range-wide prey are elk , moose, caribou , white-tailed deer and mule deer . Prior to their extirpation from North America, wild horses were among

4818-1203: Is itself thought to be derived from the Proto-Germanic * wulfaz . The Proto-Indo-European root * wĺ̥kʷos may also be the source of the Latin word for the animal lupus (* lúkʷos ). The name "grey wolf" refers to the greyish colour of the species. Since pre-Christian times, Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons took on wulf as a prefix or suffix in their names. Examples include Wulfhere ("Wolf Army"), Cynewulf ("Royal Wolf"), Cēnwulf ("Bold Wolf"), Wulfheard ("Wolf-hard"), Earnwulf ("Eagle Wolf"), Wulfstān ("Wolf Stone") Æðelwulf ("Noble Wolf"), Wolfhroc ("Wolf-Frock"), Wolfhetan ("Wolf Hide"), Scrutolf ("Garb Wolf"), Wolfgang ("Wolf Gait") and Wolfdregil ("Wolf Runner"). Grey wolf [REDACTED] Coyote [REDACTED] African wolf [REDACTED] Ethiopian wolf [REDACTED] Golden jackal [REDACTED] Dhole [REDACTED] African wild dog [REDACTED] Side-striped jackal [REDACTED] Black-backed jackal [REDACTED] In 1758,

4964-399: Is large and heavy, with a wide forehead, strong jaws and a long, blunt muzzle. The skull is 230–280 mm (9–11 in) in length and 130–150 mm (5–6 in) in width. The teeth are heavy and large, making them better suited to crushing bone than those of other canids, though they are not as specialized as those found in hyenas . Its molars have a flat chewing surface, but not to

5110-541: Is largely survivable in wolves, but can be lethal to pups. Bacterial diseases carried by wolves include: brucellosis , Lyme disease , leptospirosis , tularemia , bovine tuberculosis , listeriosis and anthrax . Although lyme disease can debilitate individual wolves, it does not appear to significantly affect wolf populations. Leptospirosis can be contracted through contact with infected prey or urine, and can cause fever , anorexia , vomiting, anemia , hematuria , icterus , and death. Wolves are often infested with

5256-696: Is most likely used mainly to induce vomiting to rid themselves of intestinal parasites or long guard hairs. They are known to eat the berries of mountain-ash , lily of the valley , bilberries , cowberries , European black nightshade , grain crops, and the shoots of reeds. In times of scarcity, wolves will readily eat carrion . In Eurasian areas with dense human activity, many wolf populations are forced to subsist largely on livestock and garbage. As prey in North America continue to occupy suitable habitats with low human density, North American wolves eat livestock and garbage only in dire circumstances. Cannibalism

5402-467: Is no evidence of megafaunal extinctions at the height of the Last Glacial Maximum (26,500 YBP), indicating that increasing cold and glaciation were not factors. Multiple events appear to have caused the rapid replacement of one species by another one within the same genus , or one population by another within the same species, across a broad area. As some species became extinct, so too did the predators that depended on them ( coextinction ). The grey wolf

5548-562: Is not uncommon in wolves during harsh winters, when packs often attack weak or injured wolves and may eat the bodies of dead pack members. Wolves typically dominate other canid species in areas where they both occur. In North America, incidents of wolves killing coyotes are common, particularly in winter, when coyotes feed on wolf kills. Wolves may attack coyote den sites, digging out and killing their pups, though rarely eating them. There are no records of coyotes killing wolves, though coyotes may chase wolves if they outnumber them. According to

5694-656: Is now extirpated (locally extinct) from much of its range in Western Europe, the United States and Mexico, and completely in the British Isles and Japan. In modern times, the wolf occurs mostly in wilderness and remote areas. The wolf can be found between sea level and 3,000 m (9,800 ft). Wolves live in forests, inland wetlands , shrublands , grasslands (including Arctic tundra ), pastures , deserts, and rocky peaks on mountains. Habitat use by wolves depends on

5840-458: Is often used in combination with scratch marks. Wolves increase their rate of scent marking when they encounter the marks of wolves from other packs. Lone wolves will rarely mark, but newly bonded pairs will scent mark the most. These marks are generally left every 240 m (260 yd) throughout the territory on regular travelways and junctions. Such markers can last for two to three weeks, and are typically placed near rocks, boulders, trees, or

5986-515: Is one of the few large carnivores to survive the Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, but similar to many other megafaunal species it experienced a global population decline towards the end of this era, which was associated with extinctions of ecomorphs and phylogeographic shifts in populations. Grey wolf mitochondrial genomes (excluding the Himalayan wolf and the Indian plains wolf ) indicate that

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6132-443: Is that archaeological studies in East Asia lag behind those in Europe, and that the environmental conditions in southern East Asia do not favour the preservation of fossils. Although primitive forms of the dog may have existed in Europe in the past, the genetic evidence indicates that these were later replaced by dogs that have migrated from southern East Asia, however, a more recent study found no support for this replacement. In 2017,

6278-430: Is that the modern European breeds only emerged in the 19th century, and that throughout history global dog populations experienced numerous episodes of diversification and homogenization, with each round further reducing the power of genetic data derived from modern breeds to help infer their early history. In 2019, study of wolf samples from northern Italy using very short lengths of mDNA found that two specimens found in

6424-652: Is the nearest common ancestor to the dog, with modern wolves not being directly ancestral to it. Secondly, the genetic divergence (split) between the dog's ancestor and modern wolves occurred over a short period of time, so that the time of the divergence is difficult to date (referred to as incomplete lineage sorting ). This is complicated further by the cross-breeding that has occurred between dogs and wolves since domestication (referred to as post-domestication gene flow ). Finally, there have been only tens of thousands of generations of dogs since domestication, so few mutations between dog and wolf have occurred; this sparsity makes

6570-595: Is usually constructed not more than 500 m (550 yd) away from a water source. It typically faces southwards where it can be better warmed by sunlight exposure, and the snow can thaw more quickly. Resting places, play areas for the pups, and food remains are commonly found around wolf dens. The odor of urine and rotting food emanating from the denning area often attracts scavenging birds like magpies and ravens . Though they mostly avoid areas within human sight, wolves have been known to nest near homes, paved roads and railways . During pregnancy, female wolves remain in

6716-435: Is usually founded by an unrelated dispersing male and female, travelling together in search of an area devoid of other hostile packs. Wolf packs rarely adopt other wolves into their fold and typically kill them. In the rare cases where other wolves are adopted, the adoptee is almost invariably an immature animal of one to three years old, and unlikely to compete for breeding rights with the mated pair. This usually occurs between

6862-559: The Bonn-Oberkassel dog which date to 15,000 YBP. Earlier remains dating back to 30,000 YBP have been described as Paleolithic dogs but their status as dogs or wolves remains debated. More recent research analysing the genomes of 72 ancient wolves, specimens from Europe, Siberia and North America spanning the past 100,000 years has confirmed that both early and modern dogs are more similar genetically to ancient wolves from Asia than from Europe. This suggests that domestication occurred in

7008-511: The Cava Filo archaeological site near San Lazzaro di Savena , Bologna fell within the domestic dog clade A haplogroup , with one being radio-carbon dated 24,700 YBP and the other stratigraphy dated to 20,000 YBP. The 24,700 YBP specimen matched the haplotype of ancient Bulgarian dogs, 2 historical sled dogs from the North American arctic, and 97 modern dogs. The 20,000 YBP specimen matched

7154-594: The Eurasian lynx , which may feed on smaller prey where wolves are present and may be suppressed by large wolf populations. Wolves encounter cougars along portions of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent mountain ranges. Wolves and cougars typically avoid encountering each other by hunting at different elevations for different prey ( niche partitioning ). This is more difficult during winter. Wolves in packs usually dominate cougars and can steal their kills or even kill them, while one-to-one encounters tend to be dominated by

7300-513: The Himalayan wolf and the Indian plains wolf ) show a most recent common ancestor dating to 32,000 YBP, which coincides with the commencement of their global demographic decline. The origin of dogs is couched in the biogeography of wolf populations that lived during the Late Pleistocene. The fossil record shows evidence of changes in the morphology and body size of wolves during the Late Pleistocene, which may be due to differences in their prey size. Wolf skeletal development can be changed due to

7446-517: The Mesolithic period at circa 10,000 BCE. The first permanent village settlement of pre-agricultural times in Israel , Kathleen Kenyon describes the material remains found there as Natufian. The Natufian village was colonized in three phases. The first two phases had massive stone-built structures with smaller ones in the third phase. These phases occurred from 12,000 to 9600 BCE. The dwellings were cut into

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7592-543: The coyote and the golden jackal , to produce fertile hybrids with them. The wolf's fur is usually mottled white, brown, grey, and black, although subspecies in the arctic region may be nearly all white. Of all members of the genus Canis , the wolf is most specialized for cooperative game hunting as demonstrated by its physical adaptations to tackling large prey, its more social nature , and its highly advanced expressive behaviour , including individual or group howling . It travels in nuclear families consisting of

7738-414: The dog and dingo , though grey wolves, as popularly understood, only comprise naturally-occurring wild subspecies. The wolf is the largest wild extant member of the family Canidae , and is further distinguished from other Canis species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller Canis species, such as

7884-506: The incubation period for rabies is eight to 21 days, and results in the host becoming agitated, deserting its pack, and travelling up to 80 km (50 mi) a day, thus increasing the risk of infecting other wolves. Although canine distemper is lethal in dogs, it has not been recorded to kill wolves, except in Canada and Alaska. The canine parvovirus, which causes death by dehydration , electrolyte imbalance , and endotoxic shock or sepsis ,

8030-491: The mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) sequencing of ancient wolves together with whole genome sequencing of modern dogs and wolves indicated a divergence time of 19,000–32,000 YBP. In 2014, another study indicated 11,000–16,000 YBP based on the modern wolf's mutation rate . The first draft genome sequence of a Pleistocene wolf was published in 2015. This wolf from the Taymyr Peninsula belonged to a population that had diverged from

8176-519: The most recent common ancestor for all C. lupus specimens studied – modern and extinct – dates to 80,000 YBP, and this is more recent than the time suggested by the fossil record . The fossil record suggests that the earliest grey wolf specimens were found in what was once eastern Beringia at Old Crow, Yukon , in Canada and at Cripple Creek Sump, Fairbanks , in Alaska. The age is not agreed but could date 1 million YBP. All modern wolves (excluding

8322-528: The rabies virus , may infect wolves. The global wild wolf population was estimated to be 300,000 in 2003 and is considered to be of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Wolves have a long history of interactions with humans, having been despised and hunted in most pastoral communities because of their attacks on livestock, while conversely being respected in some agrarian and hunter-gatherer societies. Although

8468-610: The temporalis muscle, and robust premolars . It is proposed that these features were specialized adaptations for the processing of carcass and bone associated with the hunting and scavenging of Pleistocene megafauna . Compared with modern wolves, some Pleistocene wolves showed an increase in tooth breakage similar to that seen in the extinct dire wolf . This suggests they either often processed carcasses, or that they competed with other carnivores and needed to consume their prey quickly. The frequency and location of tooth fractures in these wolves indicates they were habitual bone crackers like

8614-655: The Altai Mountains of Siberia and a cave in Belgium , dated ~33,000 years ago. According to studies, this may indicate that the domestication of dogs occurred simultaneously in different geographic locations. Genetic studies indicate that the grey wolf is the closest living relative of the dog. Attempting to reconstruct the dog's lineage through the phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences from modern dogs and wolves has given conflicting results for several reasons. Firstly, studies indicate that an extinct Late Pleistocene wolf

8760-508: The East. The research also found evidence that dogs have a dual ancestry, meaning that two separate populations of wolves contributed DNA to dogs. Early dogs from northeastern Europe, Siberia and the Americas appear to have a single, shared origin from the eastern source. But early dogs from the Middle East, Africa and southern Europe appear to have some ancestry from another source related to wolves in

8906-549: The Egyptian Sinai Peninsula showed admixture with Middle Eastern grey wolves and dogs. There is evidence of gene flow between golden jackals and Middle Eastern wolves, less so with European and Asian wolves, and least with North American wolves. This indicates the golden jackal ancestry found in North American wolves may have occurred before the divergence of the Eurasian and North American wolves. The common ancestor of

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9052-399: The Eurasian wolf is a mixture of ochreous (yellow to orange) and rusty ochreous (orange/red/brown) colours with light grey. The muzzle is pale ochreous grey, and the area of the lips, cheeks, chin, and throat is white. The top of the head, forehead, under and between the eyes, and between the eyes and ears is grey with a reddish film. The neck is ochreous. Long, black tips on the hairs along

9198-532: The Middle East for the past 75,000 years. The proposal is that domestication was a cultural innovation caused through a long and stressful event, which was climate change. Domestication may have happened during one of the five cold Heinrich events that occurred after the arrival of humans in West Europe 37,000, 29,000, 23,000, 16,500, and 12,000 YBP. The theory is that the extreme cold during one of these events caused humans to either shift their location, adapt through

9344-448: The Middle East, and Asia is estimated to be fairly recent at around 1,600 years ago. Among New World wolves, the Mexican wolf diverged around 5,400 years ago. In the distant past, there was gene flow between African wolves , golden jackals , and grey wolves. The African wolf is a descendant of a genetically admixed canid of 72% wolf and 28% Ethiopian wolf ancestry. One African wolf from

9490-443: The Middle East, in addition to the eastern source. It is possible that wolves underwent domestication more than once, with different populations then mixing together. Or, that domestication happened once only, and that dual ancestry is related to early dogs then mixing with wild wolves. The research also demonstrated how wolf DNA changed during the 30,000 generations that were represented in their 100,000-year timeline. This identified

9636-465: The Middle East, or Europe. More recently, the field of Paleogenomics applies the latest molecular technologies to fossil remains that still contain useful ancient DNA . In 2015, a study recovered mDNA from ancient canid specimens that were discovered on Zhokhov Island and the Yana river , arctic Siberia. These specimens included the mandible of a 360,000–400,000 YBP Canis cf. variabilis (where cf.

9782-509: The Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus published in his Systema Naturae the binomial nomenclature . Canis is the Latin word meaning " dog ", and under this genus he listed the doglike carnivores including domestic dogs, wolves, and jackals . He classified the domestic dog as Canis familiaris , and the wolf as Canis lupus . Linnaeus considered the dog to be a separate species from

9928-442: The abundance of prey, snow conditions, livestock densities, road densities, human presence and topography . Like all land mammals that are pack hunters , the wolf feeds predominantly on ungulates that can be divided into large size 240–650 kg (530–1,430 lb) and medium size 23–130 kg (51–287 lb), and have a body mass similar to that of the combined mass of the pack members. The wolf specializes in preying on

10074-481: The age of the pack's pups. They tend to increase in size in areas with low prey populations, or when the pups reach the age of six months when they have the same nutritional needs as adults. Wolf packs travel constantly in search of prey, covering roughly 9% of their territory per day, on average 25 km/d (16 mi/d). The core of their territory is on average 35 km (14 sq mi) where they spend 50% of their time. Prey density tends to be much higher on

10220-414: The age of two years and sexually mature from the age of three years. The age of first breeding in wolves depends largely on environmental factors: when food is plentiful, or when wolf populations are heavily managed, wolves can rear pups at younger ages to better exploit abundant resources. Females are capable of producing pups every year, one litter annually being the average. Oestrus and rut begin in

10366-455: The ancestors of both modern wolves and dogs. Radiocarbon dating indicates its age to be 35,000 YBP, and this age could then be used to calibrate the wolf's mutation rate, indicating that the genetic divergence between the dog's ancestor and modern wolves occurred before the Last Glacial Maximum, between 27,000 and 40,000 YBP. When the Pleistocene wolf's mutation rate was applied to the timing of

10512-437: The back form a broad stripe, with black hair tips on the shoulders, upper chest and rear of the body. The sides of the body, tail, and outer limbs are a pale dirty ochreous colour, while the inner sides of the limbs, belly, and groin are white. Apart from those wolves which are pure white or black, these tones vary little across geographical areas, although the patterns of these colours vary between individuals. In North America,

10658-474: The best stock for themselves while the wolves kept the herd strong, and this group of humans was to become the first herders and this group of wolves was to become the first dogs. Grey wolf See Subspecies of Canis lupus The wolf ( Canis lupus ; pl. : wolves ), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf , is a canine native to Eurasia and North America . More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, including

10804-472: The body of a small puppy. This burial of a human being with a domestic dog represents the earliest known archaeological evidence of dog domestication. One of the female burials has disarranged body parts and gazelle horn-cores placed near the head, David Wengrow has used this as evidence for the deep-history animal-human composites. ʿAin Mallaha was discovered in 1954 and salvage excavations were carried out under

10950-415: The bottleneck. However, studies show that one or more of these ancient populations is more directly ancestral to dogs than are modern wolves, and conceivably these were more prone to domestication by the first humans to expand into Eurasia. An apex predator sits on the top trophic level of the food chain, while a mesopredator sits further down the food chain and is dependent on smaller animals. Towards

11096-655: The brown bears they kill, while brown bears seem to eat only young wolves. Wolf interactions with American black bears are much rarer because of differences in habitat preferences. Wolves have been recorded on numerous occasions actively seeking out American black bears in their dens and killing them without eating them. Unlike brown bears, American black bears frequently lose against wolves in disputes over kills. Wolves also dominate and sometimes kill wolverines , and will chase off those that attempt to scavenge from their kills. Wolverines escape from wolves in caves or up trees. Wolves may interact and compete with felids , such as

11242-430: The capture of prey, or provided defense from large competing predators at kill-sites. Wolves were probably attracted to human campfires by the smell of meat being cooked and discarded refuse in the vicinity, first loosely attaching themselves and then considering these as part of their home territory where their warning growls would alert humans to the approach of outsiders. The wolves most likely drawn to human camps were

11388-637: The cat, who likewise will kill wolves. Wolves more broadly affect cougar population dynamics and distribution by dominating territory and prey opportunities and disrupting the feline's behaviour. Wolf and Siberian tiger interactions are well-documented in the Russian Far East , where tigers significantly depress wolf numbers, sometimes to the point of localized extinction . In Israel, Palestine, Central Asia and India wolves may encounter striped hyenas , usually in disputes over carcasses. Striped hyenas feed extensively on wolf-killed carcasses in areas where

11534-535: The close of the most recent Ice Age 11,700 years ago, five ancestral lineages had diversified from each other and were represented through ancient dog samples found in the Levant (7,000 years before present YBP), Karelia (10,900 YBP), Lake Baikal (7,000 YBP), ancient America (4,000 YBP), and in the New Guinea singing dog (present day). In 2021, a literature review of the current evidence infers that domestication of

11680-653: The coat colours of wolves follow Gloger's rule , wolves in the Canadian arctic being white and those in southern Canada, the U.S., and Mexico being predominantly grey. In some areas of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and British Columbia, the coat colour is predominantly black, some being blue-grey and some with silver and black. Differences in coat colour between sexes is absent in Eurasia; females tend to have redder tones in North America. Black-coloured wolves in North America acquired their colour from wolf-dog admixture after

11826-477: The common ancestor with less aggression and aversion but greater altruism towards humans received fitness benefits . As such, the domestication of the dog is a prominent example of social selection rather than artificial selection . The archaeological record and genetic analysis show the remains of the Bonn-Oberkassel dog buried beside humans 14,200 years ago to be the first undisputed dog, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago. The domestication of

11972-484: The complete and partial mitochondrial genomes of 18 fossil canids from the Old and New Worlds whose dates range from 1,000 to 36,000 YBP, and compared these with the complete mitochondrial genome sequences from modern wolves and dogs. Clade A included 64% of the modern dogs sampled, and these are a sister group to a clade containing three fossil pre-Columbian New World dogs dated between 1,000 and 8,500 YBP. This finding supports

12118-448: The conspicuous exception of dogs (see Burial customs ). It is likely that entire families were buried in the remains of their own houses, the houses being subsequently abandoned. During excavation, Perrot found one dwelling to contain the graves of 11 men, women, and children, many of them wearing elaborate decorations made from dentalium shells. In another dwelling (131), twelve individuals were found, one buried with her hand resting on

12264-464: The coyote and the wolf is admixed with a ghost population of an extinct unidentified canid. This canid was genetically close to the dhole and evolved after the divergence of the African hunting dog from the other canid species. The basal position of the coyote compared to the wolf has been proposed to be due to the coyote retaining more of the mitochondrial genome of this unidentified canid. Similarly,

12410-414: The direct ancestor of the domestic ones, or to a divergence caused by changes in the climate, topography, or other environmental influences. Recent studies indicate that a genetic divergence occurred between the dog's ancestor and modern wolves 20,000–40,000 YBP; however, this is the upper time-limit for domestication because it represents the time of divergence and not the time of domestication. In 2013,

12556-442: The divergence of a domestic lineage from a wild one does not necessarily indicate the start of the domestication process but it does provide an upper boundary. The divergence of the lineage that led to the domestic horse from the lineage that led to the modern Przewalski's horse is estimated to have occurred around 45,000 YBP but the archaeological record indicates 5,500 YBP. The variance can be due to modern wild populations not being

12702-486: The dog began in Siberia 26,000-19,700 years ago by Ancient North Eurasians , then later dispersed eastwards into the Americas and westwards across Eurasia. This hypothesis is derived from when genetic divergences are inferred to have happened. Ancient dog remains dating to this time and place have not been discovered, but archaeological excavation in those regions is rather limited. The oldest known dog skeletons were found in

12848-495: The dog outnumbered all other wolf populations, and after divergence the dog population underwent a population reduction to be much lower. In 2020, a genomic study of Eurasian wolves found that they and the dog share a common ancestor which is dated to 36,000 YBP. This finding supports the theory that all modern wolves descend from a single population which expanded after the Last Glacial Maximum and replaced other wolf populations that were adapted to different climatic conditions, and

12994-574: The dog predates agriculture, and it was not until 11,000 years ago in the Holocene era that people living in the Near East entered to relationships with wild populations of aurochs , boar , sheep , and goats . Where the domestication of the dog took place remains debated; however, literature reviews of the evidence find that the dog was domesticated in Eurasia, with the most plausible proposals being Central Asia , East Asia , and Western Europe . By

13140-565: The dog sequences which related to modern wolves from Sweden and Ukraine, with a common recent ancestor estimated to 9,200 YBP. However, this relationship might represent mitochondrial genome introgression from wolves because dogs were domesticated by this time. Clade C included 12% of the dogs sampled and these were sister to two ancient dogs from the Bonn-Oberkassel cave (14,700 YBP) and the Kartstein cave (12,500 YBP) near Mechernich in Germany, with

13286-597: The dog's ancestor was extinct. In 2018, a literature review found that most genetic studies conducted over the last two decades were based on modern dog breeds and extant wolf populations, with their findings dependent on a number of assumptions. These studies assumed that the extant wolf was the ancestor of the dog, and did not consider genetic admixture between wolves and dogs, or the impact of incomplete lineage sorting . These pre-genomic studies have suggested an origin of dogs in Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia,

13432-400: The earlier 2014 study which had originally used the modern wolf's mutation rate, that study gave the same result of 27,000–40,000 YBP. In 2017, a study compared the nuclear genome (from the cell nucleus) of three ancient dog specimens and found evidence of a single dog-wolf divergence occurring between 36,900 and 41,500 YBP. Prior to genetic divergence, the population of wolves ancestral to

13578-481: The earth, had subterranean floors, and walls that were built of dry stone . Wooden posts supported the roofs, which were probably thatches with brushwood or animal hides. Hearths were located within the dwellings. Kenyon describes the Natufian village as consisting of 50 circular, semi-subterranean, one-room huts, paved with flat slabs and surrounded by stone walls up to 1.2 meters (3.9 ft) high. The floors and walls of

13724-430: The effects of natural selection as particular genes spread within wolf populations. One gene variant, over a period of around 10,000 years, went from being very rare to being present in every wolf, and it is still present in all wolves and dogs today. The variant affects a gene, IFT88 , which is involved in the development of bones in the skull and jaw. It is possible that the spread of this variant could have been driven by

13870-472: The end of the Pleistocene , well before cultivation or the domestication of other animals. It may have been inevitable that the first domesticated animal came from the order of carnivores as these are less afraid when approaching other species. Within the carnivores, the first domesticated animal would need to exist without an all-meat diet, possess a running and hunting ability to provide its own food, and be of

14016-410: The end of the Pleistocene era, most of today's apex predators were mesopredators and this included the wolf. During the ecological upheaval associated with the close of the Late Pleistocene, one type of wolf population rose to become today's apex predator and another joined with humans to become an apex consumer. The domestication of this lineage ensured its evolutionary success through its expansion into

14162-464: The evidence available on dog divergence and supported the specimens from the Altai mountains as being those of dogs from a lineage that is now extinct, and that was derived from a population of small wolves that is also now extinct. Phylogenetic analysis showed that modern dog mDNA haplotypes resolve into four monophyletic clades designated by researchers as clades A-D. In 2013, a study sequenced

14308-477: The extant wolf C. lupus from the earlier C. mosbachensis (which in turn descended from C. etruscus ) is widely accepted. Among the oldest fossils of the modern grey wolf is from Ponte Galeria in Italy, dating to 406,500 ± 2,400 years ago. Remains from Cripple Creek Sump in Alaska may be considerably older, around 1 million years old, though differentiating between the remains of modern wolves and C. mosbachensis

14454-476: The fear of wolves exists in many human societies, the majority of recorded attacks on people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies . Wolf attacks on humans are rare because wolves are relatively few, live away from people, and have developed a fear of humans because of their experiences with hunters, farmers, ranchers, and shepherds. The English "wolf" stems from the Old English wulf , which

14600-533: The finding of dog-like fossils dated over 30,000 YBP. Genetic studies have found that the modern dogs from Southeast Asia and South China show greater genetic diversity than those dogs from other regions, suggesting that this was the place of their origin. A similar study found greater genetic diversity in African village dogs than in breed dogs. An East Asian origin has been questioned because dog fossils have been found in Europe dating around 15,000 YBP but only 12,000 YBP in far eastern Russia. The reply

14746-458: The first arrival of dogs across the Bering Strait 12,000 to 14,000 years ago. Research into the inheritance of white colour from dogs into wolves has yet to be undertaken. Wolves occur across Eurasia and North America. However, deliberate human persecution because of livestock predation and fear of attacks on humans has reduced the wolf's range to about one-third of its historic range; the wolf

14892-440: The great reindeer herds, eliminating the unfit, the weaklings, the sick and the aged, and therefore improved the herd. These wolves had become the first pastoralists hundreds of thousands of years before humans also took to this role. The wolves' advantage over their competitors was that they were able to keep pace with the herds, move fast and enduringly, and make the most efficient use of their kill by their ability to "wolf down"

15038-573: The haplotype of ancient Iberian and ancient Bulgarian dogs, Roman dogs from Iberia, and 2 historical sled dogs from the North American arctic. Four dog specimens found in the Bronze Age town of Via Ordiere, Solarolo , Italy dated to 3,600–3,280 years ago shared haplotypes with Late Pleistocene wolves and modern dogs. In 2020, dog remains were found in two caves, Paglicci Cave and Grotta Romanelli in Apulia , southern Italy. These were dated 14,000 YBP and are

15184-834: The hind feet are 220–250 mm ( 8 + 5 ⁄ 8 – 9 + 7 ⁄ 8  in). The size and weight of the modern wolf increases proportionally with latitude in accordance with Bergmann's rule . The mean body mass of the wolf is 40 kg (88 lb), the smallest specimen recorded at 12 kg (26 lb) and the largest at 79.4 kg (175 lb). On average, European wolves weigh 38.5 kg (85 lb), North American wolves 36 kg (79 lb), and Indian and Arabian wolves 25 kg (55 lb). Females in any given wolf population typically weigh 2.3–4.5 kg (5–10 lb) less than males. Wolves weighing over 54 kg (119 lb) are uncommon, though exceptionally large individuals have been recorded in Alaska and Canada. In central Russia, exceptionally large males can reach

15330-927: The homes were decorated in solid white or red, a simple and popular decorative motif in the Near East at the time. The inhabitants of ʿAin Mallaha were sedentary hunter-gatherers ; it is likely that they lived in ʿAin Mallaha year round, gathering food from the surrounding wild stands of edible vegetation, and hunting local game. The inhabitants used hand mortars for grinding wild nuts and grain, and stone sickles for cutting plants from wild stands. Many of these sickle stones hold " sickle-gloss ," indicating they had been used to cut large numbers of plant stems, most likely wild wheat and barley. The inhabitants are known to have eaten gazelle, fallow deer, wild boar, red and roe deer, hare, tortoise, reptiles, and fish. The inhabitants appear to have subsisted on fish from nearby Lake Hula , as well as by hunting and gathering; no evidence of animal domestication or cultivation has been found, with

15476-405: The human species, and there's probably a couple of million of us on the planet, max. Instead, what do we have? Seven billion people, climate change, travel, innovation and everything. Domestication has influenced the entire earth. And dogs were the first. For most of human history, we're not dissimilar to any other wild primate. We're manipulating our environments, but not on a scale bigger than, say,

15622-532: The hypothesis that pre-Columbian New World dogs share ancestry with modern dogs and that they likely arrived with the first humans to the New World. Together, clade A and the pre-Columbian fossil dogs were the sister group to a 14,500 YBP wolf found in the Kesslerloch cave near Thayngen in the canton of Schaffhausen , Switzerland , with a most recent common ancestor estimated to 32,100 YBP. Clade B included 22% of

15768-422: The initial phases of domestication. The wolf population(s) that were involved are likely to be extinct. Despite numerous genetic studies of both modern dogs and ancient dog remains, there is no firm consensus regarding either the timing or location(s) of domestication, the number of wolf populations that were involved, or the long-term effects domestication has had on the dog's genome. Around 10,000 YBP agriculture

15914-474: The initial phases of the domestication process. The range of natural variation among these characters that may have existed in ancient wolf populations, and the time it took for these traits to appear in dogs, are unknown. The fossil record suggests an evolutionary history that may include both morphologically dog-like wolves and wolf-like dogs. If the earliest dogs followed humans scavenging on carcasses that they left behind, then early selection may have favoured

16060-467: The less-aggressive, subdominant pack members with lowered flight response, higher stress thresholds and less wary around humans, which was the start of a process known as self-domestication , making them better candidates for further domestication. On the mammoth steppe the wolf's ability to hunt in packs, to share risk fairly among pack members, and to cooperate moved them to the top of the food chain above lions, hyenas and bears. Some wolves followed

16206-425: The lineage that led to dogs from other Old World wolves around 11,100–12,300 years ago. An extinct Late Pleistocene wolf may have been the ancestor of the dog, with the dog's similarity to the extant wolf being the result of genetic admixture between the two. The dingo, Basenji , Tibetan Mastiff and Chinese indigenous breeds are basal members of the domestic dog clade. The divergence time for wolves in Europe,

16352-420: The lowest levels of linkage disequilibrium . In 2017, a literature review found that because it is known that the genetic bottlenecks associated with formation of breeds raise linkage disequilibrium, the comparison of purebred with village dogs was not appropriate. Another DNA study indicated that dogs originated in the Middle East due to the sharing of DNA between dogs and Middle Eastern grey wolves. In 2011,

16498-424: The middle of the back is 60–70 mm ( 2 + 3 ⁄ 8 – 2 + 3 ⁄ 4  in), and the guard hairs on the shoulders generally do not exceed 90 mm ( 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in), but can reach 110–130 mm ( 4 + 3 ⁄ 8 – 5 + 1 ⁄ 8  in). A wolf's coat colour is determined by its guard hairs. Wolves usually have some hairs that are white, brown, grey and black. The coat of

16644-439: The modern spotted hyena indicates that these wolves were habitual bone crackers. These ancient wolves carried mitochondrial lineages which cannot be found among modern wolves, which implies that the ancient wolves went extinct. Grey wolves suffered a species-wide population bottleneck (reduction) approximately 25,000 YBP during the Last Glacial Maximum. This was followed by a single population of modern wolves expanding out of

16790-419: The modern spotted hyena . Genomic studies suggest modern wolves and dogs descend from a common ancestral wolf population. A 2021 study found that the Himalayan wolf and the Indian plains wolf are part of a lineage that is basal to other wolves and split from them 200,000 years ago. Other wolves appear to share most of their common ancestry much more recently, within the last 23,000 years (around

16936-576: The modern wolf and the dog are sister taxa , as modern wolves are not closely related to the population of wolves that was first domesticated . In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN /Species Survival Commission's Canid Specialist Group considered the New Guinea singing dog and the dingo to be feral Canis familiaris , and therefore should not be assessed for the IUCN Red List . The phylogenetic descent of

17082-400: The months of February and May. Adoptee males may mate with an available pack female and then form their own pack. In some cases, a lone wolf is adopted into a pack to replace a deceased breeder. Wolves are territorial and generally establish territories far larger than they require to survive assuring a steady supply of prey. Territory size depends largely on the amount of prey available and

17228-958: The most frequently consumed prey of North American wolves. Wolves can digest their meal in a few hours and can feed several times in one day, making quick use of large quantities of meat. A well-fed wolf stores fat under the skin, around the heart, intestines, kidneys, and bone marrow, particularly during the autumn and winter. Nonetheless, wolves are not fussy eaters. Smaller-sized animals that may supplement their diet include rodents , hares , insectivores and smaller carnivores. They frequently eat waterfowl and their eggs. When such foods are insufficient, they prey on lizards , snakes , frogs , and large insects when available. Wolves in some areas may consume fish and even marine life. Wolves also consume some plant material. In Europe, they eat apples, pears, figs , melons, berries and cherries . In North America, wolves eat blueberries and raspberries . They also eat grass, which may provide some vitamins, but

17374-424: The most important transitions in human history was the domestication of animals , which began with the long-term association between wolves and hunter–gatherers more than 30,000 years ago. The dog was the first species and the only large carnivore to have been domesticated. The domestication of the dog occurred due to variation among the common ancestor wolf population in the fight-or-flight response where

17520-417: The neck. The hairs on the cheeks are elongated and form tufts. The ears are covered in short hairs and project from the fur. Short, elastic and closely adjacent hairs are present on the limbs from the elbows down to the calcaneal tendons . The winter fur is highly resistant to the cold. Wolves in northern climates can rest comfortably in open areas at −40 °C (−40 °F) by placing their muzzles between

17666-478: The number of worms and the age of the host. The wolf is a social animal . Its populations consist of packs and lone wolves, most lone wolves being temporarily alone while they disperse from packs to form their own or join another one. The wolf's basic social unit is the nuclear family consisting of a mated pair accompanied by their offspring. The average pack size in North America is eight wolves and 5.5 in Europe. The average pack across Eurasia consists of

17812-496: The oldest dog remains found in the Mediterranean Basin . One specimen was retrieved from a layer where the sediment was dated 20,000 YBP, indicating the possibility of an earlier timing. The specimens were genetically related to the 14,000 YBP Bonn-Oberkassel dog from Germany and other early dogs from western and central Europe which all fall within the domestic dog mDNA haplogroup C, indicating that these were all derived from

17958-451: The pack for 10–54 months before dispersing. Triggers for dispersal include the onset of sexual maturity and competition within the pack for food. The distance travelled by dispersing wolves varies widely; some stay in the vicinity of the parental group, while other individuals may travel great distances of upwards of 206 km (128 mi), 390 km (240 mi), and 670 km (420 mi) from their natal (birth) packs. A new pack

18104-459: The pack usually before and after hunts, to pass on an alarm particularly at a den site, to locate each other during a storm, while crossing unfamiliar territory, and to communicate across great distances. Wolf howls can under certain conditions be heard over areas of up to 130 km (50 sq mi). Other vocalizations include growls , barks and whines. Wolves do not bark as loudly or continuously as dogs do in confrontations, rather barking

18250-466: The pads come in contact with ice and snow. In warm climates, the fur is coarser and scarcer than in northern wolves. Female wolves tend to have smoother furred limbs than males and generally develop the smoothest overall coats as they age. Older wolves generally have more white hairs on the tip of the tail, along the nose, and on the forehead. Winter fur is retained longest by lactating females, although with some hair loss around their teats. Hair length on

18396-406: The peak and the end of the Last Glacial Maximum ), originating from Siberia or Beringia . While some sources have suggested that this was a consequence of a population bottleneck , other studies have suggested that this a result of gene flow homogenising ancestry. A 2016 genomic study suggests that Old World and New World wolves split around 12,500 years ago followed by the divergence of

18542-562: The principal causes of wolf mortality, one study concluding that 14–65% of wolf deaths in Minnesota and the Denali National Park and Preserve were due to other wolves. Wolves communicate using vocalizations, body postures, scent, touch, and taste. The phases of the moon have no effect on wolf vocalization, and despite popular belief, wolves do not howl at the Moon. Wolves howl to assemble

18688-479: The processing of carcass and bone associated with the hunting and scavenging of Pleistocene megafauna . Compared with modern wolves, some Pleistocene wolves showed an increase in tooth breakage that is similar to that seen in the extinct dire wolf . This suggests that these either often processed carcasses, or that they competed with other carnivores and needed to quickly consume their prey. The frequency and location of tooth fractures found in these wolves compared with

18834-410: The rear legs and covering their faces with their tail. Wolf fur provides better insulation than dog fur and does not collect ice when warm breath is condensed against it. In cold climates, the wolf can reduce the flow of blood near its skin to conserve body heat. The warmth of the foot pads is regulated independently from the rest of the body and is maintained at just above tissue-freezing point where

18980-474: The same extent as the coyote, whose diet contains more vegetable matter. Females tend to have narrower muzzles and foreheads, thinner necks, slightly shorter legs, and less massive shoulders than males. Adult wolves measure 105–160 cm (41–63 in) in length and 80–85 cm (31–33 in) at shoulder height. The tail measures 29–50 cm (11–20 in) in length, the ears 90–110 mm ( 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 – 4 + 3 ⁄ 8  in) in height, and

19126-552: The second half of winter and lasts for two weeks. Dens are usually constructed for pups during the summer period. When building dens, females make use of natural shelters like fissures in rocks, cliffs overhanging riverbanks and holes thickly covered by vegetation. Sometimes, the den is the appropriated burrow of smaller animals such as foxes, badgers or marmots. An appropriated den is often widened and partly remade. On rare occasions, female wolves dig burrows themselves, which are usually small and short with one to three openings. The den

19272-433: The skeletons of large animals. Raised leg urination is considered to be one of the most important forms of scent communication in the wolf, making up 60–80% of all scent marks observed. Wolves are monogamous , mated pairs usually remaining together for life. Should one of the pair die, another mate is found quickly. With wolves in the wild, inbreeding does not occur where outbreeding is possible. Wolves become mature at

19418-517: The supervision of Jean Perrot , Monique Lechevalier and François Valla of the CNRS . Since 2022, the site is excavated by Fanny Bocquentin and Lior Weissbrod . Origin of the domestic dog The domestication of the dog was the process which led to the domestic dog . This included the dog's genetic divergence from the wolf , its domestication , and the emergence of the first dogs. Genetic studies suggest that all ancient and modern dogs share

19564-551: The territory's periphery. Wolves tend to avoid hunting on the fringes of their range to avoid fatal confrontations with neighbouring packs. The smallest territory on record was held by a pack of six wolves in northeastern Minnesota, which occupied an estimated 33 km (13 sq mi), while the largest was held by an Alaskan pack of ten wolves encompassing 6,272 km (2,422 sq mi). Wolf packs are typically settled, and usually leave their accustomed ranges only during severe food shortages. Territorial fights are among

19710-604: The timing of domestication difficult to date. The Late Pleistocene era was a time of glaciation, climate change, and the advance of humans into isolated areas. During the Late Pleistocene glaciation , a vast mammoth steppe stretched from Spain eastwards across Eurasia and over Beringia into Alaska and the Yukon . The close of this era was characterized by a series of severe and rapid climate oscillations with regional temperature changes of up to 16 °C (29 °F), which has been correlated with megafaunal extinctions . There

19856-472: The two species interact. One-to-one, hyenas dominate wolves, and may prey on them, but wolf packs can drive off single or outnumbered hyenas. There is at least one case in Israel of a hyena associating and cooperating with a wolf pack. Viral diseases carried by wolves include: rabies , canine distemper , canine parvovirus , infectious canine hepatitis , papillomatosis , and canine coronavirus . In wolves,

20002-404: The vulnerable individuals of large prey, with a pack of 15 able to bring down an adult moose . The variation in diet between wolves living on different continents is based on the variety of hoofed mammals and of available smaller and domesticated prey. In North America, the wolf's diet is dominated by wild large hoofed mammals (ungulates) and medium-sized mammals. In Asia and Europe, their diet

20148-479: The wolf because of its "cauda recurvata" (upturning tail) which is not found in any other canid . In the third edition of Mammal Species of the World published in 2005, the mammalogist W. Christopher Wozencraft listed under C. lupus 36 wild subspecies, and proposed two additional subspecies: familiaris (Linnaeus, 1758) and dingo (Meyer, 1793). Wozencraft included hallstromi —the New Guinea singing dog —as

20294-468: The wolf's intestines. Tapeworms are commonly found in wolves, which they get though their prey, and generally cause little harm in wolves, though this depends on the number and size of the parasites, and the sensitivity of the host. Symptoms often include constipation , toxic and allergic reactions , irritation of the intestinal mucosa , and malnutrition . Wolves can carry over 30 roundworm species, though most roundworm infections appear benign, depending on

20440-399: The wolves on Ellesmere Island do not fear humans, which is thought to be due to them seeing humans so little, and they will approach humans cautiously, curiously and closely. The dog is a classic example of a domestic animal that likely traveled a commensal pathway into domestication. The dog was the first domesticant, and was domesticated and widely established across Eurasia before

20586-435: Was developed resulting in a sedentary lifestyle, along with phenotype divergence of the dog from its wolf ancestors, including variance in size. Two population bottlenecks have occurred to the dog lineage, one due to the initial domestication and one due to the formation of dog breeds. Humans and wolves both exist in complex social groups. How humans and wolves got together remains unknown. One view holds that domestication

20732-523: Was discovered through mitochondrial DNA analysis of jackals living in the Caucasus Mountains and in Bulgaria. In 2021, a genetic study found that the dog's similarity to the extant grey wolf was the result of substantial dog-into-wolf gene flow , with little evidence of the reverse. The wolf is the largest extant member of the family Canidae , and is further distinguished from coyotes and jackals by

20878-545: Was excavated from Razboinichya Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. It was dated to 33,300 YBP, which predates the oldest evidence from Western Europe and the Near East The mDNA analysis found it to be more closely related to dogs than wolves. Later in 2013, another study found that the canid could not be classified as a dog or wolf because it fell between both. In 2017, evolutionary biologists reviewed all of

21024-403: Was once a part of western Beringia) was distinct from wolves but was only a few mutations away from those haplotypes found in modern dogs. The authors concluded that the structure of the modern dog gene pool was contributed to from ancient Siberian wolves and possibly from Canis cf. variabilis . In 2013, a study looked at the well-preserved skull and left mandible of a dog-like canid that

21170-620: Was the domestication of animals, which began with the long-term association between wolves and hunter–gatherers more than 15,000 years ago. Dogs were the first domesticated species, the only animal known to have entered into a domestic relationship with humans during the Pleistocene, and the only large carnivore to have been domesticated. It was not until 11,000 YBP that people living in the Near East entered into relationships with wild populations of aurochs, boar, sheep, and goats. A domestication process then began to develop. The earlier association of dogs with humans may have allowed dogs to have

21316-482: Was the most divergent group. The study found that the skulls of the "Goyet dog" and the "Altai dog" had some dog-like characteristics and proposed that this may have represented an aborted domestication episode. If so, there may have been originally more than one ancient domestication event for dogs as there was for domestic pigs. One review considered why the domestication of the wolf occurred so late and at such high latitudes, when humans were living alongside wolves in

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