2009/04/02 by Stephan Koblmüller, Maria Nord, Robert K. Wayne +1 · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Genetic diversity and population structure #Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2009.04176.x
openalex publication_date 2009/04/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
An extensive debate concerning the origin and taxonomic status of wolf-like canids in the North American Great Lakes region and the consequences for conservation politics regarding these enigmatic predators is ongoing. Using maternally, paternally and biparentally inherited molecular markers, we demonstrate that the Great Lakes wolves are a unique population or ecotype of gray wolves. Furthermore, we show that the Great Lakes wolves experienced high degrees of ancient and recent introgression of coyote and western gray wolf mtDNA and Y-chromosome haplotypes, and that the recent demographic bottleneck caused by persecution and habitat depletion in the early 1900s is not reflected in the genetic data.