Editing Coywolf (section)

{{short description|Hybrid mammal}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2015}}
[[File:Coywolf hybrids.jpg|thumb|Captive-bred [[F1 hybrid|F<sub>1</sub>]] gray wolf × coyote hybrids, Wildlife Science Center in [[Forest Lake, Minnesota]]]]

A '''coywolf''' is a [[canid hybrid]] descended from [[coyote]]s (''Canis latrans''), [[Eastern wolf|eastern wolves]] (''Canis lycaon''), [[Gray wolf|gray wolves]] (''Canis lupus''), and [[dog]]s (''Canis familiaris''). All of these species are members of the genus ''[[Canis]]'' with 78 [[chromosome]]s; they therefore can interbreed.<ref name=wayne1993>{{cite journal|author=Wayne, R.|year=1993|title=Molecular evolution of the dog family|journal=Trends in Genetics|volume=9|issue=6|pages=218–24|doi=10.1016/0168-9525(93)90122-X|pmid=8337763}}</ref> One genetic study indicates that these species [[genetic divergence|genetically diverged]] relatively recently (around 55,000–117,000 years ago). Genomic studies indicate that nearly all North American gray wolf populations possess some degree of admixture with coyotes following a geographic [[Cline (biology)|cline]], with the lowest levels occurring in [[Alaska]], and the highest in [[Ontario]] and [[Quebec]], as well as [[Atlantic Canada]].<ref name="vonHoldt2016">{{cite journal|last1=vonHoldt|first1=B. M.|last2= Cahill|first2=J. A.|last3=Fan|first3= Z.|last4=Gronau|first4= I.|last5= Robinson|first5= J.|last6=Pollinger|first6=J. P.|last7=Shapiro|first7= B.|last8=Wall|first8=J.|last9=Wayne|first9=R. K.|title=Whole-genome sequence analysis shows that two endemic species of North American wolf are admixtures of the coyote and gray wolf|journal=Science Advances|volume= 2|issue=7|year= 2016|pages= e1501714|doi=10.1126/sciadv.1501714|pmid=29713682|pmc=5919777|bibcode=2016SciA....2E1714V}}</ref> Another term for these hybrids is sometimes '''wolfote'''.