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It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago. Nowak, R. 1992. Wolves: The great travelers of evolution. International Wolf 2(4):3 - 7.

The second is a dense, water-resistant undercoat that insulates. The undercoat is shed in the form of large tufts of fur in late spring or early summer (with yearly variations). A wolf will often rub against objects such as rocks and branches to encourage the loose fur to fall out. The undercoat is usually gray regardless of the outer coat's appearance. Wolves have distinct winter and summer pelages that alternate in spring and autumn. Females tend to keep their winter coats further into the spring than males.

Fur color sometimes corresponds with a given wolf population's environment; for example, all-white wolves are much more common in areas with perennial snow cover. Aging wolves acquire a grayish tint in their coats. It is often thought that the coloration of the wolf's pelage serves as a functional form of camouflage. This may not be entirely correct, as some scientists have concluded that the blended colors have more to do with emphasizing certain gestures during interaction.

Raccoon Dogs are also reportedly preyed upon. thumb|left|Wolf following a bear ]Brown Bears are encountered in both Eurasia and North America. The majority of interactions between wolves and Brown Bears usually amount to nothing more than mutual avoidance. Serious confrontations depend on the circumstances of the interaction, though the most common factor is defence of food and young. Brown Bears will use their superior size to intimidate wolves from their kills and when sufficiently hungry, will raid wolf dens. Brown Bears usually dominate wolves on kills, though they rarely prevail against wolves defending den sites. Wolves in turn have been observed killing bear cubs, to the extent of even driving off the defending mother bears. Deaths in wolf/bear skirmishes are considered very rare occurrences, the individual power of the brown bear and the collective strength of the wolf pack usually being sufficient deterrents to both sides.

In areas where wolves and tigers share ranges, such as the Russian Far East, the two species typically display a great deal of dietary overlap, resulting in intense competition. Wolf and tiger interactions are well documented in Sikhote-Alin, which until the beginning of the 20th century, held very few wolves. It is thought by certain experts that wolf numbers increased in the region after tigers were largely eliminated during the Russian colonization in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This is corroborated by native inhabitants of the region claiming that they had no memory of wolves inhabiting Sikohte-Alin until the 1930s, when tiger numbers decreased.

Though hyenas usually dominate wolves on a one to one basis, wolf packs have been reported to displace lone hyenas from carcasses.

Observations of wolf packs suggest that howling occurs most often during the twilight hours, preceding the adults' departure to the hunt and following their return. Studies also show that wolves howl more frequently during the breeding season and subsequent rearing process.

Wolf growls have a distinct, deep, bass-like quality which can range from 250-1,500 Hz.

It is one of six species termed 'wolf', the others being the Red Wolf (Canis rufus) , the Indian Wolf (Canis indica) , the Himalayan Wolf (Canis himalayaensis) , the Eastern Wolf (Canis lycaon) , and the Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis) , although concerning a couple of these there is still some uncertainty as to whether they should be considered subspecies of Canis lupus or species in their own right.Recent genetic research suggests that the Indian Wolf, originally considered only as a subpopulation of the Iranian Wolf ( Canis lupus pallipes ), represents a distinct species ( Canis indica ). Similar results were obtained for the Himalayan Wolf, which is traditionally placed into the Tibetan Wolf ( Canis lupus laniger ) R. K. Aggarwal, T. Kivisild, J. Ramadevi, L. Singh: Mitochondrial DNA coding region sequences support the phylogenetic distinction of two Indian wolf species.

After that the gray wolf is thought to have become the prime canine predator in North America.

Though no true consensus has been reached, this list can be condensed to 1315 general extant subspecies. Modern classifications take into account the DNA, anatomy, distribution, and migration of various wolf colonies. , 37 subspecies are currently described, including the dingo and the domestic dog.

European wolves on the contrary tend to have longer, more highly placed ears, narrower heads, more slender loins and coarser, less luxuriant fur The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist by the Natural History Society of Montreal, published by Dawson., 1857 Fauna Boreali-americana, Or, The Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America: Containing Descriptions of the Objects of Natural History Collected on the Late Northern Land Expeditions, Under Command of Captain Sir John Franklin, R.N. , by John Richardson, William Swainson, William Kirby, published by J. Murray, 1829 . However, wolves of different geographical locations can interbreed. The Zoological Gardens of London for example once successfully managed to mate a male European wolf to an Indian female, resulting in a cub bearing an almost exact likeness to its sire.

Additionally, breeding experiments in Germany with poodles, wolves, and later on with the resulting wolf-dogs showed unrestricted fertility, mating via free choice and no significant communication problems (even after a few generations). This contrasted with the hybrid offspring of poodles crossed with coyotes and jackals, which all showed a decrease in fertility and significant communication problems, as well as an increase in genetic diseases after three generations of interbeeding. The researchers therefore concluded that domestic dogs and grey wolf are the same species. Doris Feddersen-Petersen, Hundepsychologie, 4. Auflage, 2004, Franck-Kosmos-Verlag 2004 DNA evidence has demonstrated that canis lupus lupus and canis lupus familiaris are genetically very similar.

It is agreed that all domestication events occurred in Eurasia, and that domestic dogs likely entered North America with one of the subsequent waves of humans roughly 12,000 years ago. Thus, dogs are believed to have spread very quickly throughout the world . Which exact subspecies of wolf gave rise to dogs is still debated. Some scientists point to the Tibetan wolf, noting that the uppermost part of the lower jaw is turned back as in the dog, though not so in other grey wolf subspecies, while others state that the Indian Wolf was more likely, due to its small size and more docile behaviour.

However, even when dogs range freely in wild or semi-wild circumstances, they show marked divergences from their wild ancestors. In a comparative study on poodles and wolves, wolf biologist Eric Zimen and his colleagues recorded 362 specific behaviors displayed by wolves, 64% of which were displayed by poodles with little or no change, while 13% of wolf behaviors had vanished altogether. 23% of wolf-like mannerisms persisted but in markedly modified forms. In performing many of these modified wolf-like behaviors, the poodles lacked a seriousness of purpose, being indiscriminate and ineffectual in their choice of "prey", similar to young wolves at play. In the poodles, many of the subtle facial and body expressions characteristic of wolves were greatly simplified, while many were absent altogether. Aggressive and defensive postures were greatly muted, due to poodles being generally less fearful, less aggressive and are more tolerant to invasions of personal space. Unlike adult wolves, which avoid physical contact with each other when sleeping, the poodles continued to frequently lie together through the age of eight months or older, even in hot weather when there was no conceivable reason for huddling to preserve body heat.

Hybridization in the wild usually occurs near human habitations where wolf density is low and dogs are common. However, extensive wolf-dog hybridization is not supported by morphological evidence, and analyses of mtDNA sequences have revealed that such matings are rare.

A study showed that of 100 coyotes collected in Maine, 22 had half or more wolf ancestry, and one was 89 percent wolf. A theory has been proposed that the large eastern coyotes in Canada are actually hybrids of the smaller western coyotes and wolves that met and mated decades ago as the coyotes moved toward New England from their earlier western ranges.

Strong evidence for hybridization was found through genetic testing which showed that red wolves have only 5% of their alleles unique from either grey wolves or coyotes. Genetic distance calculations have indicated that red wolves are intermediate between coyotes and grey wolves, and that they bear great similarity to wolf/coyote hybrids in southern Quebec and Minnesota. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA showed that existing Red Wolf populations are predominantly coyote in origin.

Though once abundant, the gray wolf inhabits a very small portion of its former range because of widespread destruction of its habitat, human encroachment of its habitat, and the resulting human-wolf encounters that sparked broad extirpation . This reduction has been greatest in developed areas of Europe, Asia, Mexico and the United States because of poisoning and deliberate persecution.

Changes is legal protections, land-use and population shifts to urban areas have stopped the decline in wolf population . Additionally, recolonization and reintroduction programs have increased wolf populations in Western Europe and the western United States .As a result, in 1996, the IUCN reduced the risk status of the gray wolf to being of least concern . Today, the conservational status of wolves varies greatly. They are protected in some areas, hunted for sport in others, or may be subject to extermination as perceived threats to livestock and pets.

The latter viewpoint was notably accentuated in European folklore beginning in the Christian era, though wolves did feature as heraldic animals on the arms and crests of numerous noble families. Many languages have given names (almost universally masculine) meaning "wolf", examples including the Scandinavian Ulf , Albanian "Ujk", German and Yiddish Wolf/Volf , Hebrew Ze'ev , Hungarian Farkas , Serbian Vuk , Ukrainian Vovk , Romanian Lupu, Lupescu/Lupulescu , and Bulgarian Vlko . Wolves also figure prominently in proverbs. Many Chinese proverb use wolves as a description towards any ill-willed person with a hidden agenda like Wolf hearted () which could also connote to the impossibility of taming bad people, while Wolf heart; dog lungs () refers to an ungrateful person who later betrays someone who previously helped them. The Kazakh language has up to 20 proverbs referring to wolves, while the Russian language has 253.

Wolves will also kill sheep by attacking the throat, similar to the manner in which coyotes kill sheep. Wolf kills can be distinguished from coyote kills by the far greater damage to the underlying tissue. Surplus killing often occurs when within the confines of human made livestock shelters.

According to the International Wolf Center, a Minnesota-based organization: }} Furthermore, Jim Dutcher, a film maker who raised a captive wolf pack observed that wolves are very reluctant to try meat that they have not eaten or seen another wolf eat before possibly explaining why livestock depredation is unlikely except in cases of desperation.

In North America, debate about wolf reintroduction is ongoing and often heated, both where reintroduction is being considered and where it has already occurred. Where wolves have been successfully reintroduced, as in the greater Yellowstone area and Idaho, reintroduction opponents continue to cite livestock predation, surplus killing, and economic hardships caused by wolves.

Ultimately, the economic concerns of the local ranching industry were dealt with when Defenders of Wildlife decided to establish a fund that would compensate ranchers for livestock lost to wolves, shifting the economic burden from industry to the wolf proponents themselves.

The final goal for Mexican wolf recovery is a wild, self-sustaining population of at least 100 individuals.

Source: Wikipedia > Gray Wolf