Evolution of the wolf

The evolution of the wolf occurred over a geologic time scale of at least 300 thousand years. 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.^[2]^[3] This variation in sub-populations is closely linked to differences in habitat – precipitation, temperature, vegetation, and prey specialization – which affect cranio-dental plasticity.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

The archaeological and paleontological records show the grey wolf's continuous presence for at least the last 300,000 years.^[8] This continuous presence contrasts with genomic analyses, which suggest that all modern wolves and dogs descend from a common ancestral wolf population^[9]^[10]^[11] that existed as recently as 20,000 years ago.^[9] Grey wolves suffered a species-wide population bottleneck (reduction) approximately 25,000 YBP during the Last Glacial Maximum. This was followed by a single population of modern wolves expanding out of a Beringia refuge to repopulate the wolf's former range, replacing the remaining Late Pleistocene wolf populations across Eurasia and North America as they did so.^[12]

^ Dawkins, William Boyd; Sanford, W. Ayshford; Reynolds, Sidney H. (1912). "British Pleistocene Hyænidæ, Ursidæ, Canidæ, and Mustelidæ". A Monograph of the British Pleistocene Mammalia. Vol. 2. London: Palaeontographical Society.
^ Cite error: The named reference musiani2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference schweizer2016a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference geffen2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference pilot2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference flower2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference leonard2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference sotnikova2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference freedman2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference skoglund2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference fan2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Loog2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] Dawkins, William Boyd; Sanford, W. Ayshford; Reynolds, Sidney H. (1912). "British Pleistocene Hyænidæ, Ursidæ, Canidæ, and Mustelidæ". A Monograph of the British Pleistocene Mammalia. Vol. 2. London: Palaeontographical Society.

[musiani2007-2] Cite error: The named reference musiani2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[schweizer2016a-3] Cite error: The named reference schweizer2016a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[geffen2004-4] Cite error: The named reference geffen2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[pilot2006-5] Cite error: The named reference pilot2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[flower2014-6] Cite error: The named reference flower2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[leonard2014-7] Cite error: The named reference leonard2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[sotnikova2010-8] Cite error: The named reference sotnikova2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[freedman2014-9] Cite error: The named reference freedman2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[skoglund2015-10] Cite error: The named reference skoglund2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[fan2016-11] Cite error: The named reference fan2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Loog2018-12] Cite error: The named reference Loog2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]