Evolution of the wolf

Common card · No. 254857

It is widely agreed that the evolutionary lineage of the grey wolf can be traced back 2 million years to the Early Pleistocene species Canis etruscus, and its successor the Middle Pleistocene Canis mosbachensis. The grey wolf Canis lupus is a highly adaptable species that is able to exist in a range of environments and which possesses a wide distribution across the Holarctic. Studies of modern grey wolves have identified distinct sub-populations that live in close proximity to each other. This variation in sub-populations is closely linked to differences in habitat – precipitation, temperature, vegetation, and prey specialization – which affect cranio-dental plasticity. The earliest specimens of the modern grey wolf date to around 400,000 years ago, or possibly earlier to 1 million years ago. Most modern wolves share most of their common ancestry within the last 25-23,000 years from earlier Siberian wolf populations. While some sources have suggested that this is the result of a population...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Dawkins, William Boyd, Sir, 1838-1929; et. al., Public domain