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Canis soupus: The Eastern Coy-Wolf

Coyote_1.jpg
Illustration by Adelaide Tyrol

As any biologist will tell you, different species of animal can’t breed with one another. Well, they can, but nature has a way of jumping in and nipping such cross pollination in the bud. For example, a horse can mate with a donkey, but the resulting honkey (ok, mule) should be sterile. Cattalo (cow/buffalo crosses) produce sterile males. Whitetailed deer/blacktailed deer crosses produce sterile females that presumably have gray tails.

But as an evolutionary biology student might tell you, there always seems to be a confusing exception to these so-called rules. Around here, that exception is the eastern coyote (Canis latrans), a species that can freely hybridize with both dogs and wolves and produce fertile offspring.

Coyotes didn’t used to live here. Historically, wolves ruled the forests in the Northeast, and coyotes were something that lived out west. Habitat loss and human exploitation wiped out the wolves in the mid-1800s, and for 100 years that was pretty much that.

But 60 or 70 years ago, a strange little wolflike creature started showing up in our region. At first, people didn’t know what to make of it. It sort of looked like a western coyote, but it was about 30 percent bigger. And its color palette was all over the map. Trappers were bringing in creatures that were all black, or blond, or reddish. Some looked like German-shepherds, which led to the colloquial term coy-dog. But this new animal’s skull didn’t look like a dog’s or a coy-dog’s, it looked more like a cross between a western coyote and a wolf. Today, DNA evidence is proving that that’s exactly what the eastern coyote is.

Several years ago, coyote hunters and trappers from Ohio to Maine contributed nearly 700 coyote tissue samples to a coyote genetics study led by Dr. Roland Kays at the New York State Museum. Every northeastern animal except one in the study contained a combination of wolf-like and coyote-like genes – only one sample was dog-like. What’s more, the scientists were able to determine that the wolf DNA was typical of wolves from eastern Canada and the Great Lakes region. The genetic patterns in the coyotes from Ohio, however, have no wolf-like influences and closely resemble western coyotes.

By comparing the DNA analysis to historical records, Kays developed a theory that the coyotes in the northeast arrived in two separate waves. The northern group emigrated east through Ontario, picking up wolf genes along the way. This hybridization led to larger, faster bodies and more wolf-like feeding habits. (Western coyotes focus on rabbits and rodents for the meat portion of their omnivorous diet; the eastern coyote eats more deer and fewer mice.) The second group emigrated east from Indiana through Ohio and Pennsylvania. The coyotes in the Adirondacks, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine trace their roots back to the northern front, while animals in western New York and Pennsylvania represent the purer western coyote strains that are moving east. In that area, the northern coyotes are mixing with the western coyotes, and with each passing breeding season, the cards are getting more and more jumbled.

Because coyotes are turning out to be such a genetic hodgepodge, the joke in mammology circles is that in deference to the gray wolf’s scientific name, Canis lupus, the coyote should be renamed Canis soupus. Kays says that it’s anyone’s guess as to how the evolutionary history of the eastern coyote will play out. He doesn’t know if the two groups recognize each other as being different. He doesn’t know if one set of genes will prove more successful than the other. Maybe evolution will favor the genetics from the northern wave, as the bigger bodies make the animals better deer hunters. Or maybe the purer, smaller western-type genes that came from the south and east will prove more successful in our fragmented, increasingly suburban landscape.

One thing we are sure of is that in 60 years time, coyotes have firmly established themselves as residents in just about every corner of the Northeast. They’ve also done a great job of turning conventional biological wisdom on its head.

Discussion *

Sep 02, 2017

I was shed hunting mid Feb ‘15 & wind hitting me in the face. I caught movement to my left & with only a pocket knife in my pocket, I ducked & hoped I wasnt seen by this jammer coyote on roids. Joker was as big as German Shepherd, at least. Freaked me out & some google action proved it was a coy-wolf. Neighbor of mine, who hunts too, seen it last year & scared him good. Funny cause he thought I was bs’in him

Jason Platt
Mar 18, 2016

The early (and not so early) settlers eradicated wolves and mountain lions for a reason. Their fears were not unsubstantiated. All current reports point toward black bears throughout the U.S. and Canada greatly increasing in number and seemingly losing their fear of people. It is probable that the incidence of attacks and predation by bears is going to increase. Attacks by coy-dogs? Who knows.? The point is that the re-wilding of our woods and forests with the return of wolves, cougars, more bear and coy-wolves is great as a concept and nice to think about, especially for urban dwellers. But for those of us who live in or near the wild it is not a comforting thought.

Ed
Dec 14, 2015

I looked out the window on my parents farm and saw what looked like German Shepherds crossing the field. I watched carefully because it is unusual to see neighbors’ dogs loose on other people’s property. They raise cattle in Mid-Missouri and loose dogs are not welcome. There were 2 of them, probably mates, and as they got closer, they looked more like coyotes, with a somewhat gangly gait. As they walked right across from the porch, I couldn’t tell if they were wolves or coyotes. They were clearly just passing through. My father told me that he had seen what looked like wolves there too, but in theory, they don’t exist in Mid-Missouri.

Mary
Nov 16, 2015

Does the DNR have any statistics to support the coy-wolf population in this part of Indiana?

Beth
Nov 07, 2015

I have logged in this tri-state area for 33 years. I have seen plenty of coyotes, but I have seen the Coy-wolf animal for most of my career, too.

Todd Fortner
Apr 06, 2015

Just a quick note on this… I have spinal cord damage and an unsteady walk and limp… I always have mountain lion problems with hunting elk in Colorado, but this last winter, while walking (limping) to my deer blind here in Indiana, I had one (coy wolf) pick me up and stalk me all the way to my blind…  Clearly too large for Canis Latrans, this one had all the characteristics of Canis Soupus.

Dave
Feb 13, 2014

Beth I am certain what you saw was a Coywolf. I have been working at the airport for 27 years and have spotted them frequently. Just saw 2 of them two nights ago.

Dee
Jan 26, 2014

I swear I saw a coywolf at Cleveland Hopkins Airport area just last week. It was on a highway cloverleaf area by the airport catching rats or mice. It was diving in the snow with it’s snout and pulling up these mice and eating them. Really interesting and so close to the population. I have seen coyotes before in our parks but this was a larger species and more ‘german sheppard’ looking. Could it have been a coywolf?

Beth
Jan 23, 2014

Recommend viewing a Public Television Nature program titled, “Meet the Coywolf.”

Victoria
Jan 23, 2014

This person seems to fall into the category of the misinformed as concerns coyotes. She brings up the image of coyotes attacking children which seems to be an extension of our forebears mistrust and hatred of wolves. This ancient mistrust and lack of knowledge resulted in our eradication of a necessary prey species, the wolf. Thank goodness that Nature has seen fit to fill the void created by man. Coyotes fill a void in removing rodents and sick and diseased animals.

Frank Gedeon
Jun 16, 2012

Thank you for this forum.  I know that we are still trying to decipher just what this new animal is.  We know, conclusively, that it is a coy-wolf.  That they are larger, smarter and that they breed in packs.  That, from the coyote, they have a natural “comfort” around people in urban areas.  However, like the wolf, they do not necessarily “fear” people - although opinions on this part differ..

I guess my point, and I think it’s a good one that has yet to be addressed is this:

Why should we be “unconcerned” regarding our safety?  I have been warned by the management team in my apartment complex to keep the screen door closed because the head of that team has recently SEEN a wolf not more than 50 feet from my own door.  I was quick to offer that it might have been a coyote, but this man would not be moved.  It was a wolf and that was that.

He was apparently seeing a coy-wolf.  Actually, folks, friends and family have been telling me for weeks that they’ve seen coyotes that look just like wolves.  “Big” was the word always used.

So we know that even a 30 pound coyote will attack a small child.  Why in the world should we not be concerned?  I’ve read posts as far as Ohio who have read the finding of the Eastern Coy-wolf and they don’t seem to have any trouble admitted a “danger level” in those states and are quick to tell their people that they have not spread that far - yet.

I think that they are beautiful and cool, too - IN THE WILD!!!  ;)  But they aren’t.  One was caught in downtown Boston.  They are popping up everywhere.

So ...why shouldn’t we be worried..?  Someone has to summon up the courage to take on the animal conversational reflex that we all have these days enough to admit that some level of altered safety concern needs to be, in margin with good sense, seriously addressed.

As far as I know, that has not been done yet.

Thank you.

Marie Shanahan
Nov 07, 2011

Hi Folks:  This is a terrific article.  I teach middle school science and we are currently learning about classification and species.  This is an interesting article that should spark quite the conversation in my classroom!  Thanks.

Lynn Murphy

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