Editing Coywolf (section)

===Eastern coyotes===
{{Main|Eastern coyote}}
[[File:Coyote-face-snow - Virginia - ForestWander.jpg|thumb|An [[Eastern coyote]], a coyote-wolf hybrid in [[West Virginia]] near the [[Virginia]] state line.]]
Eastern coyotes range from [[New England]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[New Jersey]], [[Pennsylvania]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21677188-it-rare-new-animal-species-emerge-front-scientists-eyes?fsrc=scn/fb/te/pe/ed/greaterthanthesumofitsparts|title=Greater than the sum of its parts|newspaper=The Economist|date=October 31, 2015|access-date=October 30, 2015}}</ref> [[Ohio]],<ref>[http://ocj.com/2014/12/update-on-coy-wolf-sightings-in-ohio/ Update on Coy Wolf sightings in Ohio – Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal]. Ocj.com. Retrieved on 2018-09-05.</ref> [[West Virginia]],<ref>[http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/coyoteresearch.shtm West Virginia DNR – Coyote]. Wvdnr.gov. Retrieved on 2018-09-05.</ref> [[Maryland]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170112180112/http://dnr2.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/hunt_trap/coyote.aspx Coyotes in Maryland]. Department of Natural Resources. maryland.gov</ref> [[Delaware]], and [[Virginia]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111108153010/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/11/111107-hybrids-coyotes-wolf-virginia-dna-animals-science/ Coyote-Wolf Hybrids Have Spread Across U.S. East]. News.nationalgeographic.com (2011-11-08). Retrieved on 2018-09-05.</ref> Their range also extends into the Canadian provinces of  [[Ontario]], [[Quebec]], [[New Brunswick]],<ref name=gnb>{{cite web|title=Living with Wildlife – Eastern coyotes|url=http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/nr-rn/pdf/en/Wildlife/Coyotes.pdf|website=Natural Resources website|publisher=[[Government of New Brunswick]]|access-date=February 2, 2014}}</ref> [[Nova Scotia]],<ref name=nsdnr>{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions about Eastern Coyote in Nova Scotia|url=https://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/nuisance/coyotes-faq.asp|website=Department of Natural Resources website|publisher=[[Government of Nova Scotia]]|access-date=February 2, 2014}}</ref> [[Prince Edward Island]] and [[Newfoundland and Labrador]].<ref name=NL>{{cite web|title=Living with Coyotes in Newfoundland and Labrador|url=http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/all_species/coyotes.html|website=The Department of Environment and Conservation website|publisher=Government of Newfoundland and Labrador|access-date=February 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219000332/http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/all_species/coyotes.html|archive-date=February 19, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Coyotes and wolves hybridized in the Great Lakes region, followed by an eastern coyote expansion, creating the largest mammalian hybrid zone known.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/mec.13667|pmid=27106273|title=Admixture mapping identifies introgressed genomic regions in North American canids|journal=Molecular Ecology|volume=25|issue=11|pages=2443–53 |year=2016|last1=Vonholdt|first1=Bridgett M.|last2=Kays|first2=Roland|last3=Pollinger|first3=John P.|last4=Wayne|first4=Robert K.|s2cid=27846857 |doi-access=|bibcode=2016MolEc..25.2443V }}</ref> Extensive hunting of gray wolves over a period of 400 years caused a population decline that reduced the number of suitable mates, thus facilitating coyote genes swamping into the eastern wolf population. This has caused concern over the purity of remaining wolves in the area, and the resulting eastern coyotes are too small to substitute for pure wolves as [[apex predator]]s of moose and deer.<ref name=rutledge/>

The main nucleus of pure eastern wolves is currently concentrated within [[Algonquin Provincial Park]]. This susceptibility to hybridization led to the eastern wolf being listed as Special Concern under the Canadian Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife and with the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario. By 2001, protection was extended to eastern wolves occurring on the outskirts of the park, thus no longer depriving Park eastern wolves of future pure-blooded mates. By 2012, the genetic composition of the park's eastern wolves was roughly restored to what it was in the mid-1960s, rather than in the 1980s–1990s, when the majority of wolves had large amounts of coyote DNA.<ref name=rutledge>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/ece3.61| pmid = 22408723| title = Intense harvesting of eastern wolves facilitated hybridization with coyotes| journal = Ecology and Evolution| volume = 2| issue = 1| pages = 19–33| year = 2012| last1 = Rutledge | first1 = L. Y. | last2 = White | first2 = B. N. | last3 = Row | first3 = J. R. | last4 = Patterson | first4 = B. R. | pmc = 3297175| bibcode = 2012EcoEv...2...19R}}</ref>

Aside from the combinations of coyotes and eastern wolves making up most of the modern day eastern coyote's gene pools, some of the coyotes in the northeastern United States have mild domestic dog (''C. lupus familiaris'') and western Great Plains gray wolf (''C. l. nubilus'') influences in their gene pool. This suggests that the eastern coyote is actually a four-in-one hybrid of coyotes, eastern wolves, western gray wolves, and dogs. The hybrids living in areas with higher white-tailed deer density often have higher degrees of wolf genes than those living in urban environments. The addition of domestic dog genes may have played a minor role in facilitating the eastern hybrids' adaptability to survive in human-developed areas.<ref>{{Cite journal|pmc=3899836|title=Assessment of coyote-wolf-dog admixture using ancestry-informative diagnostic SNPs|journal=Molecular Ecology|volume=23|issue=1|pages=182–197|doi=10.1111/mec.12570|year=2013|last1=Monzón|first1=J|last2=Kays|first2=R|last3=Dykhuizen|first3=D. E.|pmid=24148003}}</ref> 

The four-in-one hybrid theory was further explored in 2014, when Monzón and his team reanalyzed the tissue and SNP samples taken from 425 eastern coyotes to determine the degree of wolf and dog introgressions involved in each geographic range.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Monzon|first1=Javier|title=It's a "Coyote-wolf-dog eat dog" world|url=http://www.gothamcoyote.com/news/its-a-coyote-wolf-dog-eat-dog-world|website=Gotham Coyote Project|date=22 January 2014|access-date=June 16, 2016|archive-date=August 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807150854/http://www.gothamcoyote.com/news/its-a-coyote-wolf-dog-eat-dog-world|url-status=dead}}</ref> The domestic dog allele averages 10% of the eastern coyote's genepool, while 26% is contributed by a cluster of both eastern wolves and western gray wolves. The remaining 64% matched mostly with coyotes. This analysis suggested that prior to the uniformity of its modern-day genetic makeup, multiple swarms of genetic exchanges between the coyotes, feral dogs, and the two distinct wolf populations present in the Great Lakes region may have occurred. Urban environments often favor coyote genes, while the ones in the rural and deep forest areas maintain higher levels of wolf content. A 2016 meta-analysis of 25 genetics studies from 1995 to 2013 found that the northeastern coywolf is 60% western coyote, 30% eastern wolf, and 10% domestic dog. However, this hybrid canid is only now coming into contact with the southern wave of coyote migration into the southern United States.<ref name=Ways&Lynn>{{cite journal |title=Northeastern coyote/coywolf taxonomy and admixture: A meta-analysis |journal=Canid Biology & Conservation |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–7 |url=http://canids.org/CBC/19/Northeastern_coyote_taxonomy.pdf |access-date=2016-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404125907/http://canids.org/CBC/19/Northeastern_coyote_taxonomy.pdf |archive-date=April 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>