Editing Eastern wolf (section)

{{Short description|Subspecies of carnivore}}
{{distinguish|Lycaon (genus)}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Eastern wolf
| image =Eastern wolf in Algonquin Provincial Park 01.jpg
| image_caption = In Algonquin Provincial Park
|status=G2
|status_system=TNC
|status_ref=<ref>{{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.947797/Canis_sp_cf_lycaon |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref>
|status2=T
|status2_system=ESA
|status2_ref=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ontario.ca/page/algonquin-wolf|title=Algoquin wolf|website=ontario.ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelandbetween.ca/the-land-between-species-at-risk/eastern-wolf/|title=Eastern wolf|website=www.thelandbetween.ca/the-land-between-species-at-risk}}</ref>
| genus = Canis
| species = lycaon
| authority = [[Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber|Schreber]], 1775<ref name=schreber1775/>
| range_map = Distribution of North American Canis.svg
| range_map_caption = Blue: Distribution of the Eastern wolf
| synonyms = *''Canis lupus lycaon''
*''Canis lupus canadensis'' {{small|de Blainville, 1843}}
*''Canis lupus ungavensis'' {{small|Comeau, 1940}}
}}

The '''eastern wolf''' ('''''Canis lycaon'''''<ref name=MDD/> or '''''Canis lupus lycaon'''''<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000738}}</ref><ref name=COL2018e/>), also known as the '''timber wolf''',<ref name=mech1971/> '''Algonquin wolf''' and '''eastern timber wolf''',<ref name=usfws1992/> is a canine of debated taxonomy native to the [[Great Lakes region]] and southeastern Canada. It is considered either a unique [[subspecies]] of [[Wolf|gray wolf]], or [[red wolf]], or a separate species from both.<ref name=beeland2013/> Many studies have found the eastern wolf to be the product of ancient and recent [[genetic admixture]] between the gray wolf and the [[coyote]],<ref name=vonholdt2016/><ref name=sinding2018/> while other studies have found some or all populations of the eastern wolf, as well as coyotes, originally separated from a common ancestor with the wolf over 1&nbsp;million years ago and that these populations of the eastern wolf may be the same species as or a closely related species to the red wolf (''Canis lupus rufus'' or ''Canis rufus'') of the [[Southeastern United States]].<ref name=wilson2000/><ref name=rutledge2012a/><ref name=beeland2013/>  Regardless of its status, it is regarded as unique and therefore worthy of conservation<ref name=heppenheimer2018/> with Canada citing the population in eastern Canada (also known as the "Algonquin wolf") as being the eastern wolf population subject to protection.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/S-15.3.pdf|title=List of Wildlife Species at Risk|website=Laws-lois.justice.gc.ca|access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref>

There are two forms, the larger being referred to as the [[Great Lakes-boreal wolf]], which is generally found in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, southeastern Manitoba and northern Ontario, and the smaller being the Algonquin wolf, which inhabits eastern Canada, specifically central and eastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec, with some overlapping and mixing of the two types in the southern portions of northeastern and northwestern Ontario.<ref name=lehman1991/><ref name=thiel2012/><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://wolvesontario.org/ontario-wolf-survey/|title=OWS|website=Wolvesontario.org|access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref> The eastern wolf's morphology is midway between that of the gray wolf and the coyote.<ref name=beeland2013/> The fur is typically of a grizzled grayish-brown color mixed with cinnamon. The nape, shoulder and tail region are a mix of black and gray, with the flanks and chest being [[rufous]] or creamy.<ref name=thiel2012/> It primarily preys on [[white-tailed deer]], but may occasionally hunt [[moose]] and [[North American beaver|beaver]]s.<ref name=theberge>Theberge, J.&nbsp;B. & M.&nbsp;T. Theberge (2004). ''[http://allthingscanid.org/The%20Wolves%20of%20Algonquin%20Park%20A%2012%20Year%20Ecological%20Study.pdf The wolves of Algonquin Park, a 12 Year Ecological Study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163443/http://allthingscanid.org/The%20Wolves%20of%20Algonquin%20Park%20A%2012%20Year%20Ecological%20Study.pdf |date=2018-06-12 }}'', Department of Geography, Publication Series Number 56, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario</ref>

In the third edition of ''[[Mammal Species of the World]]'' published in 2005, the mammalogist [[W. Christopher Wozencraft]] listed the eastern wolf as a gray wolf subspecies,<ref name=msw3/> which supports its earlier classification based on morphology in three studies.<ref name=goldman1937/><ref name=goldman1944/><ref name=nowak2002/> This taxonomic classification has since been debated, with proposals based on DNA analyses that includes a gray wolf [[ecotype]],<ref name=koblmuller2009/> a gray wolf with genetic [[introgression]] from the coyote,<ref name=lehman1991/> a gray wolf/coyote hybrid,<ref name=vonholdt2011/> a gray wolf/red wolf hybrid,<ref name=nowak2002/> the same species as the red wolf,<ref name=wilson2000/> or a separate species (''Canis lycaon'') closely related to the red wolf.<ref name=wilson2000/> Commencing in 2016, two studies using [[whole genome sequencing]] indicate that North American gray wolves and wolf-like canids were the result of ancient and complex gray wolf and coyote mixing,<ref name=vonholdt2016/><ref name=sinding2018/> with the Great Lakes wolf possessing 25% coyote ancestry and the Algonquin wolf possessing 40% coyote ancestry.<ref name=sinding2018/>

In the US, gray wolves including the timber wolf are protected under the [[Endangered Species Act of 1973]], although the protections were removed at the federal level in 2021 before being reinstated in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wolf.org/wolf-info/the-endangered-species-act-and-wolves-an-update-for-2022/ | title=Endangered Species Act: 2022 update | date=29 December 2021 | access-date=May 16, 2024 | publisher=International Wolf Center}}</ref> In Canada, the eastern wolf is listed as ''Canis lupus lycaon'' under the ''[[Species At Risk Act]] 2002, Schedule 1'' - [[List of Wildlife Species at Risk (Canada)|List of Wildlife at Risk]].<ref name="auto"/> In 2015, the [[Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada]] recognized the eastern wolf in central and eastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec as ''Canis'' [[Open nomenclature#Usage of open nomenclature|cf.]] ''lycaon'' (''Canis'' species believed to be ''lycaon'')<ref name=COSEWIC2015/> and a threatened species worthy of conservation.<ref name=SRPR2015/> The main threat to this wolf is human hunting and trapping outside of the protected areas, which leads to genetic introgression with the [[eastern coyote]] due to a lack of mates. Further human development immediately outside of the protected areas and the negative public perception of wolves are expected to inhibit any further expansion of their range.<ref name=SRPR2015/> In 2016, the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario recognized the Algonquin wolf as a ''Canis sp.'' (''Canis'' species) differentiated from the hybrid Great Lakes wolves which it found were the result of "hybridization and backcrossing among Eastern Wolf (''Canis lycaon'') (aka ''C.&nbsp;lupus lycaon''), Gray Wolf (''C.&nbsp;lupus''), and Coyote (''C.&nbsp;latrans'')".<ref name="Cossa">{{Cite web|url=http://cossaroagency.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Accessible_COSSARO-evaluation-Algonquin-Wolf.pdf|title=Ontario Species at Risk Evaluation Report for Algonquin Wolf (Canis sp.)|website=Cossaroagency.ca|access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref>