DNA profiles of the eastern Canadian wolf and the red wolf provide evidence for a common evolutionary history independent of the gray wolf

The origin and taxonomy of the red wolf (Canis rufus) have been the subject of considerable debate and it has been suggested that this taxon was recen tly formed as a result of hybridization between the coyote and gray wolf. L ike the red wolf, the eastern Canadian wolf has been characterized as a sma ll "deer-eating" wolf that hybridizes with coyotes (Canis latrans). While s tudying the population of eastern Canadian wolves in Algonquin Provincial P ark we recognized similarities to the red wolf, based on DNA profiles at 8 microsatellite loci. We examined whether this relationship was due to simil ar levels of introgressed coyote genetic material by comparing the microsat ellite alleles with those of other North American populations of wolves and coyotes. These analyses indicated that it was not coyote genetic material which led to the close genetic affinity between red wolves and eastern Cana dian wolves. We then examined the control region of the mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA) and confirmed the presence of coyote sequences in both. However, we also found sequences in both that diverged by 150 000 - 300 000 years from sequences found in coyotes. None of the red wolves or eastern Canadian wolf samples from the 1960s contained gray wolf (Canis lupus) mtDNA sequences. The data are not consistent with the hypothesis that the eastern Canadian w olf is a subspecies of gray wolf as it is presently designated. We suggest that both the red wolf and the eastern Canadian wolf evolved in North Ameri ca sharing a common lineage with the coyote until 150 000 - 300 000 years a go. We propose that it retain its original species designation, Canis lycao n.