In Canada, there are TWO distinct populations of white coyotes found in Ontario and Newfoundland respectively. Coyotes are not normally known to carry a winter-white coat. In Ontario, the only wild canid with a naturally occurring white coat is the Hudson Bay wolf (Canis lupus hudsonicus), a gray wolf subspecies found in the far north of the province. These wolves are suspected to have transmitted the white genes into the coyotes through the smaller Eastern Timber wolves (Canis lupus lycaon). However, directly hybridizations between Canis lupus hudsonicus and Eastern Coywolves (Canis latrans thamnos x Canis lupus lycaon) may have also occurred in areas where both the Hudson bay wolves and the northeastern coyotes overlapped in the range. In Newfoundland, a similar case has occurred with a Coywolf population. In this case, the white gene is suspected to have been transmitted into the coyotes from domestic dogs. However, Labrador wolves (Canis lupus labradorius), a gray wolf subspecies native to the Atlantic Canadian coast as well as the northeastern coyotes (Canis latrans thamnos) who migrated onto the islands through the ice bridges are also known to have had histories of mixing with feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), particularly the Labrador huskies. Normally the Labrador wolves do not mix with coyotes in their areas but when migrated onto the island portion of the province where there are less wolves for them, males do end up turning to female coyotes for mates. Therefore, the white coyotes found in Newfoundland may actually be a surviving hybrid descendant of the Labrador wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs. cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/white-y-coyote-newfoundland-animal-profiled-in-national-geographic-1.1354815 Like · · Share
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 01:51:53 +0000
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