Editing Arctic wolf (section)

{{Short description|Subspecies of carnivore}}
{{Redirect2|White wolf|Polar wolf|other uses|White Wolf (disambiguation)|other uses|Arctic wolf (disambiguation)|the prison in Russia|FKU IK-3, Kharp}}
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{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Subspeciesbox
| name = Arctic wolf
| image = Canis lupus arctos qtl1.jpg
| image_caption = 
| status = DD
| status_system = COSEWIC
| status_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/publications/canadian-wildlife-species-risk-2021.html |title=Canadian Wildlife Species at Risk 2021|access-date=2023-10-14|date=2021-12-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.741211/Canis_lupus_arctos|title=Canis lupus arctos|access-date=2023-10-14}}</ref>
| genus = Canis
| species_link = Gray wolf
| species = lupus
| subspecies = arctos
| authority = [[Reginald I. Pocock|Pocock]], 1935
| range_map = North American gray wolf subspecies distribution according to Goldman (1944) & MSW3 (2005).png
| range_map_caption = Historical and present range of [[Subspecies of Canis lupus|grey wolf subspecies]] in North America
}}

The '''Arctic wolf''' ('''''Canis lupus arctos'''''), also known as the '''white wolf''', '''polar wolf''', and the '''Arctic grey wolf''', is a [[Subspecies of Canis lupus|subspecies of grey wolf]] native to the [[High Arctic tundra]] of Canada's [[Queen Elizabeth Islands]], from [[Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut)|Melville Island]] to [[Ellesmere Island]].<ref>Mech, L. David (1981), ''The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species'', University of Minnesota Press, p. 352, {{ISBN|0-8166-1026-6}}</ref> Unlike some populations that move between tundra and forest regions,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/en/services/wolves|title = Wolves}}</ref> Arctic wolves spend their entire lives north of the northern [[treeline]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/Arctic_animals/arctic_wolf.php|title=Arctic Wolf Facts and Adaptations - Canis lupus arctos}}</ref> Their distribution to south is limited to the northern fringes of the [[Middle Arctic tundra]] on the southern half of [[Prince of Wales Island (Nunavut)|Prince of Wales]] and [[Somerset Island (Nunavut)|Somerset Islands]]. It is a medium-sized subspecies, distinguished from the [[northwestern wolf]] by its smaller size, whiter colouration, narrower [[Neurocranium|braincase]],<ref name=goldman>Goldman, E. A. (1964). Classification of wolves. In ''The Wolves of North America'' Part 2. Young, S. P. & Goldman, E. A. (Eds.) New York: Dover Publs. p. 430.</ref> and larger [[carnassial]]s.<ref name=brock>{{cite journal | last1 = Clutton-Brock | first1 = J. | last2 = Kitchener | first2 = A. C. | last3 = Lynch | first3 = J. M. | year = 1994 | title = Changes in the skull morphology of the Arctic wolf, ''Canis lupus arctos'', during the twentieth century | journal = Journal of Zoology | volume = 233 | pages = 19–36 | doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1994.tb05259.x}}</ref> Since 1930, there has been a progressive reduction in size in Arctic wolf skulls, which is likely the result of [[Wolfdog|wolf-dog hybridization]].<ref name="brock" />