Hello! Today i'll be talking about wolfs. note the fact that i have FOUR wiki's open right now. first we'll start of with the Gray Wolf, and then We'll end with the Dire wolf. All of the following info comes from the 4 wiki's i have open right now. No.1 GRAY WOLF The gray wolf (Canis lupus) also known as the timber wolf, or western wolf, is a canid native to the wilderness and remote areas of North America, Eurasia, and northern, eastern and western Africa. It is the largest extant member of its family, with males averaging 43–45 kg (95–99 lb), and females 36–38.5 kg (79–85 lb). Like the red wolf, it is distinguished from other Canis species by its larger size and less pointed features, particularly on the ears and muzzle. Its winter fur is long and bushy, and predominantly a mottled gray in color, although nearly pure white, red, or brown to black also occur. As of 2005, 37 subspecies of C. lupus are recognised by MSW3. The nominate subspecies is the Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus), also known as the common wolf. The gray wolf is the most specialised member of the genus Canis, as demonstrated by its morphological adaptations to hunting large prey, its more gregarious nature, and its highly advanced expressive behavior. It is nonetheless closely related enough to smaller Canis species, such as the eastern wolf, coyote and golden jackal to produce fertile hybrids. Its closest relative is the domestic dog, with which it shared a common European ancestor which likely diverged 14,900 years ago. It is the only species of Canis to have a range encompassing both the Old and New Worlds, and originated in Eurasia during the Pleistocene, colonizing North America on at least three separate occasions during the Rancholabrean. It is a social animal, travelling in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair, accompanied by the pair's adult offspring. The gray wolf is typically an apex predator throughout its range, with only humans and tigers posing a serious threat to it. It feeds primarily on large ungulates, though it also eats smaller animals, livestock, carrion, and garbage. The gray wolf is one of the world's best known and well researched animals, with probably more books written about it than any other wildlife species. It has a long history of association with humans, having been despised and hunted in most pastoral communities due to its attacks on livestock, while conversely being respected in some agrarian and hunter-gatherer societies. Although the fear of wolves is pervasive in many human societies, the majority of recorded attacks on people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies. Non-rabid wolves have attacked and killed people, mainly children, but this is unusual, as wolves are relatively few, live away from people, and have been taught to fear humans by hunters and shepherds. No.2 ARCTIC WOLF The Arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos), also known as the Melville Island wolf[1] is a possible subspecies of gray wolf native to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, from Melville Island to Ellesmere Island. It is a medium-sized subspecies, distinguished from the northwestern wolf by its smaller size, its whiter coloration, its narrower braincase, and larger carnassials. Since 1930, there has been a progressive reduction in size in Arctic wolf skulls, which is likely the result of wolf-dog hybridization. Contrary to its mainland counterparts, the Arctic wolf has never been seriously hunted or pursued, as the high Arctic holds few human settlements. As a result, the Arctic wolf is relatively unafraid of people, and can be coaxed to approach people in some areas. It has occasionally acted aggressively toward humans. Otto Sverdrup wrote that during the Fram expedition, a pair of wolves attacked one of his team-mates, who defended himself with a skiing pole. In 1977, a pair of scientists were approached by six wolves on Ellesmere Island, with one animal leaping at one of the scientists and grazing a cheek. A number of incidents involving aggressive wolves have occurred in Alert, Nunavut, where the wolves have lived in close proximity to the local weather station for decades and become habituated to humans. The Arctic wolf was first described as a distinct subspecies by British zoologist Reginald Pocock in 1935, after having examined a single skull from Melville Island. As of 2005, the Arctic wolf is still recognized as a distinct subspecies by MSW3. However, studies undertaken on Arctic wolf autosomal microsatellite DNA and mtDNA data indicate that the Arctic wolf has no unique haplotypes, thus indicating that its colonization of the Arctic Archipelago from the North American mainland was relatively recent, and thus not sufficient to warrant subspecies status.[8] However, the research of Chambers et al. (2012) that dismissed the Arctic wolf's genetic integrity became controversial, forcing the USF&WS to commission a peer review of it, known as NCAES (2014). This peer review highlighted numerous flaws in the research such as the erroneous merging of the coastal BC island wolves with the inland Canis lupus nubilus as well as suggesting that gray wolves never lived in the eastern third of the US, etc, and thus concluded unanimously that the Chambers' review "is not accepted as consensus scientific opinion or best available science". (what?) No.3 INDIAN WOLF The Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) is a subspecies of grey wolf which ranges from Israel to the Indian Subcontinent. It is intermediate in size between the Tibetan and Arabian wolf, and lacks the former's luxuriant winter coat. Along with the extant Himalayan and African wolves, as well as the now extinct Beringian wolf, the Indian wolf represents one of the more basal subspecies of grey wolf, with one genetic study indicating that the Indian wolf has been reproductively isolated from other populations for over 400,000 years. 400,000 Years?!?!? yeash.) No.4 DIRE WOLF The dire wolf (Canis dirus "fearsome dog") is an extinct carnivorous mammal of the genus Canis, roughly the size of the extant gray wolf, but with a heavier build. It evolved in North America and later moved into South America. Canis dirus is assigned to the Rancholabrean land mammal age of North America (240,000-10,000 years BP) and was among the many large carnivores and megaherbivores that became extinct in North and South America near the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Salamander Cave in the Black Hills of South Dakota has produced the oldest known fossil of what is thought to be a dire wolf. The site preserves a fauna approximately 252,000 years old, based on uranium-series dating of a horse fossil found there. Its ending is associated with the Quaternary extinction event. (too bad it's extinct, i'd like to see it in real life.) The dire wolf averaged about 1.5 m (5 ft) in length and weighed between 50 and 79 kg (110 and 174 lb), which made it the largest species in the genus Canis. Limb elements are rarely found outside the La Brea Tar Pits, which makes it hard to compare the size of average individuals between populations. The dire wolf is estimated to have been 8% shorter at the shoulder than the modern Northwestern wolf, and of equal height to the typical gray wolf, but more heavily built. With the exception of the canine teeth in some populations, male and female body and teeth sizes evidence no major sexual dimorphism, similar to most canines. In some populations, males’ canine teeth were considerably larger, suggesting male competition for breeding access. In other populations, lack of dimorphism in the canine teeth suggests little competition. Despite superficial similarities to the gray wolf, the two species differed significantly. Today’s largest gray wolves would have been of similar size to an average dire wolf; the largest dire wolves would have been considerably larger than any modern gray wolf. The dire wolf is calculated to have weighed 25% more than living gray wolves. Many of these characteristics were needed to fight off and prey on larger megafauna. The legs of the dire wolf were proportionally shorter and sturdier than those of the gray wolf, and its brain case was smaller than that of a similarly sized gray wolf. Well, that's all for today! Here's the wolf pics! the one on top is the dire wolf. Bye!