"Coywolves" in the Eastern Midwest? (Near Lake Erie, USA)

[WolvesHorses]

I live, as the title says, fairly near Lake Erie. My grandpa came home one day, saying "I've seen a lot of coyotes, but today, I think I saw what's called a coywolf!" He described a huge animal that, about knee-hight, very furry, but still with somewhat of a coyote's muzzle. His theory is that it just wandered down here from up north. Is it possible? :O

(I'll ask him when he gets back from his buisness trip, in a few days, what color it was.)

[Crocotto]

Sounds plausible

[Blightwolf]

A new study published Sept. 23 in the journal Biology Letters asserts that coyote-wolf hybridization events in the northeastern U.S. have lent coyotes genes that gave them an extra edge when expanding their range into new territories. The study by Roland Kays, et al. analyzed mtDNA from 686 eastern coyotes and analyzed 196 skull measurements associated with what the authors call the coyotes “two-front colonization pattern.” The two-fronts relate to the coyotes expansion from the Great Plains and then a.) north and east the long way around the Great Lakes, and b.) a straight shot due east from Ohio, the short way below the Great Lakes. Intriguingly, the study states that the coyotes expansion on the longer front north around the Great Lakes occurred at a rate five times faster than the coyotes that expanded along the short route. They attribute this speed to the coyotes exposure to wolves in Canada along the northern route, whereas the coyotes along the southern Great Lakes route expanded in the absence of wolves, which had been extirpated in the previous 90 years. The two expanding fronts then met, giving scientists an opportunity to compare the effects of geographic travels upon each front.

What could make animals from the same parent population expand five times faster in one direction versus another? Kays and his team say that as the northern front of coyotes expanded around the Great Lakes, they hybridized with eastern wolves in Ontario.

SOURCE: http://sciencetrio.wordpress.com/2009/0 ... eir-range/

Coywolves are stockier than regular coyotes but they do have distinct and familiar features in them such as muzzle, ears and tail.

Coywolves are currently expanding their range so it's well possible that your grandfather saw a coywolf.

[Crocotto]

Also coupled with the theory that most of the Coy-wolves in New England came from hybrids going West, following the US/ Canada border, and that would put them right in the Great Lake Region

[Blightwolf]

I am quite reassured that once coywolves are beginning to mark a clear range and habitat for themselves, we will get some better estimations and perhaps statistic about their whereabouts and we could better speculate where the coywolves are heading and how much their range has expanded since the early days of their existence.

Seems very likely, Crocotto and you are exactly right. With those dimensions the coywolves would logically be at the Great Lake area.

[TokioHotelRocks]

I agree with Blight, your grandfather most likely saw a coywolf. It is possible that wolves and coyotes have created a new species

[Blightwolf]

It is possible that wolves and coyotes have created a new species

Coywolves are basically hybridized canines. A genetic study shows that they were most likely first created by the interbreeding of coyotes and wolves in the northeastern part of United States.

The resulting "coywolves" may, however, benefit ecosystems, since they appear to be filling niches once occupied by wolves that were eradicated by humans.

"We are finding repeatedly that hybridization is more common than we used to think," lead author Roland Kays told Discovery News.

"This is an evolutionary mechanism to generate new variation that can work faster than genetic mutation," added Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum.

Given where these animals came from and the degree of documented genetic diversity, the researchers can tell that a few coyote females mated with male wolves north of the Great Lakes.

Coywolves aren't too hard to pick out from pure coyotes.

"They are larger, both in terms of body size and skull dimension," Kays explained. "Their skulls are especially wide compared with their length."

"Male coywolves are larger than females, while coyotes are not," he added. "Coywolves also tend to be more variable in terms of color, with red, dark and light morphs."

Source: http://news.discovery.com/animals/coyot ... vores.html

[WolvesHorses]

Wow. o.o Just wow. *ecstatic* The closest I'll probably get to seeing a wild wolf, at least for a long time C: TY GUYS!

[TokioHotelRocks]

Np, I have found some pictures of coywolves that may be helpful also
http://media.photobucket.com/image/coyw ... cd.jpg?o=2