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Subspecies of Canis lupus#Eurasia and Australia

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File:The Wolves of North America (1944) C. lupus subspecies skulls.jpg

File:Original distribution of gray wolf (canis lupus) subspecies-en.png

There are 38 subspecies of Canis lupus listed in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005, 3rd edition). These subspecies were named over the past 250 years, and since their naming, a number of them have gone extinct. The nominate subspecies is the Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus).

Taxonomy

In 1758, the Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus published in his Systema Naturae the binomial nomenclature – or the two-word naming – of species. Canis is the Latin word meaning "dog",{{OEtymD|canine}} and under this genus he listed the dog-like carnivores including domestic dogs, wolves, and jackals. He classified the domestic dog as Canis familiaris, and on the next page he classified the wolf as Canis lupus.{{cite book|last=Linnæus|first=Carl|title=Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I|year=1758|publisher=Laurentius Salvius|location=Holmiæ (Stockholm)|pages=39–40|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/80764#page/49/mode/1up|edition= 10th|access-date=November 23, 2012|language=la}} Linnaeus considered the dog to be a separate species from the wolf because of its head, body, and cauda recurvata – its upturning tail – which is not found in any other canid.

In 1999, a study of mitochondrial DNA indicated that the domestic dog may have originated from multiple wolf populations, with the dingo and New Guinea singing dog "breeds" having developed at a time when human populations were more isolated from each other. In the third edition of Mammal Species of the World published in 2005, the mammalogist W. Christopher Wozencraft listed under the wolf Canis lupus some 36 wild subspecies, and proposed two additional subspecies: familiaris Linnaeus, 1758 and dingo Meyer, 1793. Wozencraft included hallstromi – the New Guinea singing dog – as a taxonomic synonym for the dingo. Wozencraft referred to the mDNA study as one of the guides in forming his decision, and listed the 38 subspecies under the biological common name of "wolf", with the nominate subspecies being the Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus) based on the type specimen that Linnaeus studied in Sweden. However, the classification of several of these canines as either species or subspecies has recently{{when|date=July 2024}} been challenged.

List of extant subspecies

Living subspecies recognized by MSW3 {{As of|2005|lc=on}} and divided into Old World and New World:

=Eurasia and Australasia=

Sokolov and Rossolimo (1985) recognised nine Old World subspecies of wolf. These were C. l. lupus, C. l. albus, C. l. pallipes, C. l. cubanenesis, C. l. campestris, C. l. chanco, C. l. desertorum, C. l. hattai, and C. l. hodophilax. In his 1995 statistical analysis of skull morphometrics, mammalogist Robert Nowak recognized the first four of those subspecies, synonymized campestris, chanco and desertorum with C. l. lupus, but did not examine the two Japanese subspecies. In addition, he recognized C. l. communis as a subspecies distinct from C. l. lupus. In 2003, Nowak also recognized the distinctiveness of Arabian wolf, C. l. hattai, C. l. italicus, and C. l. hodophilax.{{Harvnb|Nowak|2003|pp=245–246}} In 2005, MSW3 included C. l. filchneri. In 2003, two forms were distinguished in southern China and Inner Mongolia as being separate from C. l. chanco and C. l. filchneri and have yet to be named.

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|+ Eurasian and Australasian subspecies of Canis lupus

scope="col" width=12%| Subspecies

! scope="col" width=12%| Image

! scope="col" width=12%| Authority

! scope="col" width=20%| Description

! scope="col" width=18%| Range

! scope="col" width=26%| Taxonomic synonyms

scope="row" | C. l. albus
Tundra wolf

|150 px

| Kerr, 1792{{ITIS|id=726809 |taxon=Canis lupus albus Kerr, 1792}}

| A large, light-furred subspecies.Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N., P. (1998) [https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov211998gept#page/182/mode/2up Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol. II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears)], Science Publishers, Inc., USA, pp. 182-184, {{ISBN|1-886106-81-9}}

| Northern tundra and forest zones in the European and Asian parts of Russia and Kamchatka. Outside Russia, its range includes the extreme north of Scandinavia.

| dybowskii Domaniewski, 1926, kamtschaticus Dybowski, 1922, turuchanensis Ognev, 1923{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000740 }}

scope="row" | C. l. arabs
Arabian wolf

|120 px

| Pocock, 1934{{ITIS|id=726811 |taxon=Canis lupus arabs Pocock, 1934}}

| A small, "desert-adapted" subspecies that is around 66 cm tall and weighs, on average, about 18 kg.{{cite book | author = Lopez, Barry | title = Of wolves and men | year = 1978 | isbn = 978-0-7432-4936-2 | publisher = Scribner Classics | location = New York | page = 320}} Its fur coat varies from short in the summer to long in the winter, possibly because of solar radiation.{{cite book | author = Fred H. Harrington | author2 = Paul C. Paquet | author2-link = Paul C. Paquet | title = Wolves of the World: Perspectives of Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation | year = 1982 | isbn = 978-0-8155-0905-9 | page = 474| publisher = Elsevier Science }}

| Southern Palestine, southern Israel, southern and western Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt (Sinai Peninsula).

|

scope="row" | C. l. campestris
Steppe wolf

|130 px

| Dwigubski, 1804

| An average-sized subspecies with short, coarse and sparse fur.Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N., P. (1998) [https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov211998gept#page/188/mode/2up Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol. II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears)], Science Publishers, Inc., USA, pp. 188-89, {{ISBN|1-886106-81-9}}

| Northern Ukraine, southern Kazakhstan, the Caucasus and the Trans-Caucasus

| bactrianus Laptev, 1929, cubanenesis Ognev, 1923, desertorum Bogdanov, 1882{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000747 }}

scope="row" | C. l. chanco
Himalayan wolf

|130 px

| Matschie, 1907

| Long sharp face, elevated brows, broad head, large pointed ears, thick woolly pelage and very full brush of medial length. Above, dull earthy-brown; below, with the entire face and limbs yellowish-white.

|The Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau predominating above 4,000 metres in elevation

| laniger Hodgson, 1847

scope="row" | C. l. chanco
Mongolian wolf

|130 px

| Gray, 1863

| The fur is fulvous, on the back longer, rigid, with intermixed black and gray hairs; the throat, chest, belly, and inside of the legs pure white; head pale gray-brown; forehead grizzled with short black and gray hairs.

| Mongolia, northern and central China, Korea, and the Ussuri River region of Russia

| coreanus Abe, 1923, dorogostaiskii Skalon, 1936, karanorensis Matschie, 1907, niger Sclater, 1874, tschiliensis Matschie, 1907

scope="row" | C. l. dingo
Dingo and New Guinea singing dog

|140 px

| Meyer, 1793

| Generally 52–60 cm tall at the shoulders and measures 117 to 124 cm from nose to tail tip. The average weight is 13 to 20 kg.{{cite web|author=Ben Allen |url=http://www.invasiveanimals.com/downloads/Final-proceedings-with-cover.pdf |title=Home Range, Activity Patterns, and Habitat use of Urban Dingoes |website=14th Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference |publisher=Invasive Animals CRC |year=2008 |access-date=2009-04-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424014424/http://www.invasiveanimals.com/downloads/Final-proceedings-with-cover.pdf |archive-date=24 April 2009 }} Fur color is mostly sandy- to reddish-brown, but can include tan patterns and can also be occasionally light brown, black or white.{{cite book|last=Fleming|first=Peter|author2=Laurie Corbett |author3=Robert Harden |author4=Peter Thomson |title=Managing the Impacts of Dingoes and Other Wild Dogs|publisher=Bureau of Rural Sciences|location=Commonwealth of Australia|year=2001}}

| Australia and New Guinea

| antarticus Kerr, 1792 [suppressed ICZN O451:1957], australasiae Desmarest, 1820, australiae Gray, 1826, dingoides Matschie, 1915, macdonnellensis Matschie, 1915, novaehollandiae Voigt, 1831, papuensis Ramsay, 1879, tenggerana Kohlbrugge, 1896, hallstromi Troughton, 1957, harappensis Prashad, 1936{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000751 }}

Sometimes included within Canis familiaris when the domestic dog is recognised as a species.{{BioRef|asm|id=1005940|title=Canis familiaris |version=1.5 |access-date=17 September 2021}}

scope="row" | C. l. familiaris
Domestic dog
but refer Synonyms

|120 px

| Linnaeus, 1758

|The domestic dog is a divergent subspecies of the gray wolf and was derived from an extinct population of Late Pleistocene wolves. Through selective pressure and selective breeding, the domestic dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds and shows more behavioral and morphological variation than any other land mammal.{{Cite journal|vauthors=Spady TC, Ostrander EA |title=Canine Behavioral Genetics: Pointing Out the Phenotypes and Herding up the Genes |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=82 |issue=#1 |pages=10–8 |date=January 2008 |pmid=18179880 |pmc=2253978 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.12.001}}

| Worldwide in association with humans

| Increasingly proposed as the species Canis familiaris but debated{{Cite book|title=The domestic dog : its evolution, behavior and interactions with people|others=Serpell, James, 1952-, Barrett, Priscilla|isbn=9781107024144|edition= Second|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|pages=8|oclc=957339355|last1=Serpell|first1=James|date=2016-12-08}}

{{smalldiv|1=

aegyptius Linnaeus, 1758,

alco C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

americanus Gmelin, 1792,

anglicus Gmelin, 1792,

antarcticus Gmelin, 1792,

aprinus Gmelin, 1792,

aquaticus Linnaeus, 1758,

aquatilis Gmelin, 1792,

avicularis Gmelin, 1792,

borealis C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

brevipilis Gmelin, 1792,

cursorius Gmelin, 1792,

domesticus Linnaeus, 1758,

extrarius Gmelin, 1792,

ferus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

fricator Gmelin, 1792,

fricatrix Linnaeus, 1758,

fuillus Gmelin, 1792,

gallicus Gmelin, 1792,

glaucus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

graius Linnaeus, 1758,

grajus Gmelin, 1792,

hagenbecki Krumbiegel, 1950,

haitensis C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

hibernicus Gmelin, 1792,

hirsutus Gmelin, 1792,

hybridus Gmelin, 1792,

islandicus Gmelin, 1792,

italicus Gmelin, 1792,

laniarius Gmelin, 1792,

leoninus Gmelin, 1792,

leporarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

major Gmelin, 1792,

mastinus Linnaeus, 1758,

melitacus Gmelin, 1792,

melitaeus Linnaeus, 1758,

minor Gmelin, 1792,

molossus Gmelin, 1792,

mustelinus Linnaeus, 1758,

obesus Gmelin, 1792,

orientalis Gmelin, 1792,

pacificus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

plancus Gmelin, 1792,

pomeranus Gmelin, 1792,

sagaces C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

sanguinarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

sagax Linnaeus, 1758,

scoticus Gmelin, 1792,

sibiricus Gmelin, 1792,

suillus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

terraenovae C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

terrarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

turcicus Gmelin, 1792,

urcani C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

variegatus Gmelin, 1792,

venaticus Gmelin, 1792,

vertegus Gmelin, 1792{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000752 }}

}}

scope="row" | C. l. italicus
Italian wolf

|150 px

| Altobello, 1921

| The pelt is generally of a grey-fulvous colour, which reddens in summer. The belly and cheeks are more lightly coloured, and dark bands are present on the back and tail tip, and occasionally along the fore limbs.

| Native to the Italian Peninsula; recently expanded into Switzerland and southeastern France.

| lupus Linnaeus, 1758

scope="row" | C. l. lupus
Eurasian wolf
(nominate subspecies)

|150 px

| Linnaeus, 1758{{ITIS|id=180598 |taxon=Canis lupus lupus Linnaeus, 1758}}

| Generally a large subspecies with rusty ocherous or light gray fur.Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N., P. (1998) [https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov211998gept#page/184/mode/2up Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol. II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears)], Science Publishers, Inc., USA, pp. 184-87, {{ISBN|1-886106-81-9}}

| Has the largest range among wolf subspecies and is the most common subspecies in Europe and Asia, ranging through Western Europe, Scandinavia, the Caucasus, Russia, China, and Mongolia. Its habitat overlaps with the Indian wolf in some regions of Turkey.

| altaicus Noack, 1911, argunensis Dybowski, 1922, canus Sélys Longchamps, 1839, communis Dwigubski, 1804, deitanus Cabrera, 1907, desertorum Bogdanov, 1882, flavus Kerr, 1792, fulvus Sélys Longchamps, 1839, kurjak Bolkay, 1925, lycaon Trouessart, 1910, major Ogérien, 1863, minor Ogerien, 1863, niger Hermann, 1804, orientalis Wagner, 1841, orientalis Dybowski, 1922{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000739 }}

scope="row" | C. l. pallipes
Indian wolf

|130 px

| Sykes, 1831

| A small subspecies with pelage shorter than that of northern wolves and with little to no underfur.{{cite web| url = http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19550/19550-h/19550-h.htm#245| title = NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAMMALIA OF INDIA AND CEYLON by Robert A. Sterndale, THACKER, SPINK, AND CO. BOMBAY: THACKER AND CO., LIMITED. LONDON: W. THACKER AND CO. 1884.}} Fur color ranges from grayish-red to reddish-white with black tips. The dark V-shaped stripe over the shoulders is much more pronounced than in northern wolves. The underparts and legs are more or less white.A monograph of the canidae by St. George Mivart, F.R.S, published by Alere Flammam. 1890

|India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, northern Israel, and northern Palestine{{Cite journal |last1=REICHMANN |first1=ALON |last2=SALTZ |first2=DAVID |date=2005-01-01 |title=The Golan Wolves: The Dynamics, Behavioral Ecology, and Management of an Endangered Pest |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1560/1BLK-B1RT-XB11-BWJH |journal=Israel Journal of Zoology |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=87–133 |doi=10.1560/1BLK-B1RT-XB11-BWJH |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |issn=0021-2210}}

|

scope="row" | C. l. signatus
Iberian wolf

|130 px

| Cabrera, 1907

| A subspecies with slighter frame than C. l. lupus, white marks on the upper lips, dark marks on the tail, and a pair of dark marks on its front legs.

| Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, which includes northwestern Spain and northern Portugal

| lupus Linnaeus, 1758

=North America=

File:North American gray wolf subspecies distribution according to Goldman (1944) & MSW3 (2005).png 2005.]]

For North America, in 1944 the zoologist Edward Goldman recognized as many as 23 subspecies based on morphology.{{cite book|last1=Young|first1=Stanley P.|last2=Goldman|first2=Edward A.|title=The Wolves of North America|publisher=Dover Publications, New York|volume=2|year=1944|pages=413–477|isbn=978-0486211930}} In 1959, E. Raymond Hall proposed that there had been 24 subspecies of lupus in North America.The Mammals of North America, E. Raymond Hall & Keith R. Kelson, Ronald Press New York, 1959 In 1970, L. David Mech proposed that there was "probably far too many subspecific designations...in use", as most did not exhibit enough points of differentiation to be classified as separate subspecies.Mech, L. David. 1970. The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis The 24 subspecies were accepted by many authorities in 1981 and these were based on morphological or geographical differences, or a unique history.The Mammals of North America, E. Raymond Hall, Wiley New York, 1981 In 1995, the American mammalogist Robert M. Nowak analyzed data on the skull morphology of wolf specimens from around the world. For North America, he proposed that there were only five subspecies of the wolf. These include a large-toothed Arctic wolf named C. l. arctos, a large wolf from Alaska and western Canada named C. l. occidentalis, a small wolf from southeastern Canada named C. l. lycaon, a small wolf from the southwestern U.S. named C. l. baileyi and a moderate-sized wolf that was originally found from Texas to Hudson Bay and from Oregon to Newfoundland named C. l. nubilus.

The taxonomic classification of Canis lupus in Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) listed 27 subspecies of North American wolf, corresponding to the 24 Canis lupus subspecies and the three Canis rufus subspecies of Hall (1981). The table below shows the extant subspecies, with the extinct ones listed in the following section.

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|+ North American subspecies of Canis lupus

scope="col" width=12%| Subspecies

! scope="col" width=12%| Image

! scope="col" width=12%| Authority

! scope="col" width=20%| Description

! scope="col" width=18%| Range

! scope="col" width=26%| Taxonomic synonyms

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scope="row" | C. l. arctos
Arctic wolf

|140 px

| Pocock, 1935{{ITIS|id=726812 |taxon=Canis lupus arctos Pocock, 1935}}

| A medium-sized, almost completely white subspecies.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 430-31

| Melville Island (the Northwest Territories and Nunavut), Ellesmere Island

| The current (2025) classification of the more broadly defined C. l. arctos of Nowak (1995) synonymizes C. l. orion and C. l. bernardi.{{cite journal|title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses|publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | C. l. baileyi
Mexican wolf

|130 px

| Nelson and Goldman, 1929{{ITIS|id=726813 |taxon=Canis lupus baileyi Nelson and Goldman, 1929}}

| The smallest of the North American subspecies, with dark fur.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 469-71

| Southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona as well as northern Mexico; once ranged into western Texas

|

scope="row" | C. l. columbianus
British Columbian wolf

| 150 px

| Goldman, 1941

| Smaller-sized; unique diet of fish and smaller-sized deer in temperate rainforest; similar to crassodon.

| Coastal British Columbia and coastal Yukon

| Currently (2023) synonymized under C. l. crassodon.

scope="row" | C. l. crassodon
Vancouver Island wolf

|140 px

| Hall, 1932

| A medium-sized subspecies with grayish fur; similar to columbianus.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 459-60

| Vancouver Island, British Columbia

| Currently (2023) C. l. crassodon synonymizes C. l. ligoni and C. l. columbianus.

scope="row" | C. l. familiaris
Domestic dog
but refer Synonyms

|120 px

|

|

| worldwide

|The domestic dog is a divergent subspecies of the gray wolf and was derived from an extinct population of Late Pleistocene wolves. Through selective pressure and selective breeding, the domestic dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds and shows more behavioral and morphological variation than any other land mammal.

{{smalldiv|1=

aegyptius Linnaeus, 1758,

alco C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

americanus Gmelin, 1792,

anglicus Gmelin, 1792,

antarcticus Gmelin, 1792,

aprinus Gmelin, 1792,

aquaticus Linnaeus, 1758,

aquatilis Gmelin, 1792,

avicularis Gmelin, 1792,

borealis C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

brevipilis Gmelin, 1792,

cursorius Gmelin, 1792,

domesticus Linnaeus, 1758,

extrarius Gmelin, 1792,

ferus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

fricator Gmelin, 1792,

fricatrix Linnaeus, 1758,

fuillus Gmelin, 1792,

gallicus Gmelin, 1792,

glaucus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

graius Linnaeus, 1758,

grajus Gmelin, 1792,

hagenbecki Krumbiegel, 1950,

haitensis C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

hibernicus Gmelin, 1792,

hirsutus Gmelin, 1792,

hybridus Gmelin, 1792,

islandicus Gmelin, 1792,

italicus Gmelin, 1792,

laniarius Gmelin, 1792,

leoninus Gmelin, 1792,

leporarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

major Gmelin, 1792,

mastinus Linnaeus, 1758,

melitacus Gmelin, 1792,

melitaeus Linnaeus, 1758,

minor Gmelin, 1792,

molossus Gmelin, 1792,

mustelinus Linnaeus, 1758,

obesus Gmelin, 1792,

orientalis Gmelin, 1792,

pacificus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

plancus Gmelin, 1792,

pomeranus Gmelin, 1792,

sagaces C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

sanguinarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

sagax Linnaeus, 1758,

scoticus Gmelin, 1792,

sibiricus Gmelin, 1792,

suillus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

terraenovae C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

terrarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

turcicus Gmelin, 1792,

urcani C. E. H. Smith, 1839,

variegatus Gmelin, 1792,

venaticus Gmelin, 1792,

vertegus Gmelin, 1792{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000752 }}

}}

Increasingly proposed as the species Canis familiaris but debated{{Cite book|title=The domestic dog : its evolution, behavior and interactions with people|others=Serpell, James, 1952-, Barrett, Priscilla|isbn=9781107024144|edition= Second|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|pages=8|oclc=957339355|last1=Serpell|first1=James|date=2016-12-08}}

scope="row" | C. l. hudsonicus
Hudson Bay wolf

| 140px

| Goldman, 1941

| A light-colored subspecies similar to occidentalis, but smaller.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 427-29

| Northern Manitoba and the Northwest Territories

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. nubilus{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | C. l. irremotus
Northern Rocky Mountain wolf

| 140 px

| Goldman, 1937{{ITIS|id=726829 |taxon=Canis lupus irremotus Goldman, 1937}}

| A medium-sized to large subspecies with pale fur.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 445-49

| The northern Rocky Mountains

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. occidentalis{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | C. l. labradorius
Labrador wolf

|140px

| Goldman, 1937

| A medium-sized, light-colored subspecies.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 434-35

| Labrador and northern Quebec; confirmed presence on Newfoundland{{cite web|url=http://www.thetelegram.com/Canada---World/Sports/2012-05-25/article-2987989/Wolf-in-Newfoundland-probably-made-it-to-island-on-ice%2C-experts-say/1|title=Wolf in Newfoundland probably made it to island on ice, experts say|publisher=The Telegram|date=25 May 2012|access-date=26 August 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2012/env/0823n04.htm|title=Genetic Retesting of DNA Confirms Second Wolf on Island of Newfoundland |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|access-date=26 August 2012}}

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. nubilus{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | C. l. ligoni
Alexander Archipelago wolf

|140px

| Goldman, 1937

| A medium-sized, dark-colored subspecies.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 453-55

| The Alexander Archipelago, Alaska

| Currently (2023) synonymized under C. l. crassodon.

scope="row" | C. l. lycaon
Eastern wolf
but refer Synonyms

|130px

| Schreber, 1775

| Two forms are known – a small, reddish-brown colored form called the Algonquin wolf; and a slightly larger, more grayish-brown form called the Great Lakes wolf, which is an admixture of the Algonquin wolf and other gray wolves.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 437-41

| The Algonquin form occupies central Ontario and southwestern Quebec, particularly in and nearby protected areas, such as Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, and possibly extreme northeastern U.S. and western New Brunswick. The Great Lakes form occupies northern Ontario, Wisconsin and Minnesota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and southern Manitoba. Overlaps of the two forms occur, with intermixing in the southern portions of northern Ontario.

| canadensis de Blainville, 1843, ungavensis Comeau, 1940{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000763 }}

The Algonquin form is currently (2025) recognized as the species Canis lycaon by the American Society of Mammalogists, but its taxonomy is still debated.{{cite journal |title=Considering Pleistocene North American wolves and coyotes in the eastern Canis origin story |date=5 June 2021 |publisher=Wiley Online Library|doi=10.1002/ece3.7757 |last1=Wilson |first1=Paul J. |last2=Rutledge |first2=Linda Y. |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=11 |issue=13 |pages=9137–9147 |pmid=34257949 |pmc=8258226 |bibcode=2021EcoEv..11.9137W }}

scope="row" | C. l. mackenzii
Mackenzie River wolf

| 150px

| Anderson, 1943

| A subspecies with variable fur and intermediate in size between occidentalis and manningi.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 474-76

| The southern Northwest Territories

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. occidentalis{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | C. l. manningi
Baffin Island wolf

|130 px

| Anderson, 1943

| The smallest subspecies of the Arctic, with buffy-white fur.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 476-77

| Baffin Island

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. nubilus{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | C. l. occidentalis
Northwestern wolf

|150px

| Richardson, 1829

| A very large, usually light-colored subspecies, and the biggest subspecies.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 424-27

| Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the northwestern United States

| ater Richardson, 1829, sticte Richardson, 1829{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000769 }}

The C. l. occidentalis of Nowak (1995) synonymizes alces, columbianus, griseoalbus, mackenzii, pambasileus and tundrarum, which is the currently (2025) recognized classification.

scope="row" | C. l. orion
Greenland wolf

|150px

| Pocock, 1935

|

| Greenland and the Queen Elizabeth IslandsNowak, R.M. 1983. A perspective on the taxonomy of wolves in North America. In: Carbyn, L.N., ed. Wolves in Canada and Alaska. Canadian Wildlife Service, Report Series 45:lO-19.

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. arctos{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | C. l. pambasileus
Alaskan Interior wolf

|150 px

| Miller, 1912

| The second largest subspecies of wolf, second in skull and tooth proportions only to occidentalis (see chart above), with fur that is black, white or a mixture of both in color.{{Cite web |last=Miller Jr. |first=Gerrit S. |date=8 June 1912 |title=THE NAMES OF THE LARGE WOLVES OF NORTHERN AND WESTERN NORTH AMERICA |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/23457/1912%20SMC%20v59%20Miller%20Wolves%27%20names%201-5.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=26 October 2022 |website=Smithsonian Research Online}}

| The Alaskan Interior and Yukon, save for the tundra region of the Arctic CoastMech, L. David (1981), The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 352-353, {{ISBN|0-8166-1026-6}}

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. occidentalis{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" |C. l. nubilus
Great Plains wolf

|140px

| Say, 1823

| A medium-sized, light-colored subspecies.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 441-45

| Throughout the Great Plains from southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan southward to northern Texas{{cite book|last1=Mech|first1=L.|title=The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species|publisher=Doubleday|year=1970|chapter=Appendix A – Subspecies of wolves – North American|isbn=978-0-307-81913-0|chapter-url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=KOQZrXvczGMC}}|quote=Great Plains wolf; buffalo wolf; loafer. This is another extinct subspecies. It once extended throughout the Great Plains from southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan southward to northern Texas.}}

| variabilis Wied-Neuwied, 1841.{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000768 }} Previously thought extinct in 1926, the Great Plains wolf's descendants were found in the northeastern region of the United States and have become federally protected since 1974.{{Cite book|url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-85952-1|title=Recovery of Gray wolves in the Great Lakes Region of the United States, An Endangered Subpecies Success Story|publisher=link.springer.com|year=2009 |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-85952-1 |isbn=978-0-387-85951-4 |s2cid=132793403 |editor-last1=Wydeven |editor-last2=Van Deelen |editor-last3=Heske |editor-first1=Adrian P |editor-first2=Timothy R |editor-first3=Edward J }}

As of 2025 the classification of the more broadly defined C. l. nubilus of Nowak (1995) synonymizes beothucus, fuscus, hudsonicus, irremotus, labridorius, manningi, mogollonensis, monstrabilis and youngi, in which case the subspecies is extant in Canada (see infobox map).

scope="row" | C. l. rufus
Red wolf
but refer Synonyms

|130 px

| Audubon and Bachman, 1851

| Has a brownish or cinnamon pelt, with gray and black shading on the back and tail. Generally intermediate in size between other North American wolf subspecies and the coyote. Like other wolves, it has almond-shaped eyes, a broad muzzle and a wide nose pad though, like the coyote, its ears are proportionately larger. It has a deeper profile, a longer and broader head than the coyote, and has a less prominent ruff than other wolves.{{cite web | title = Red Wolf | website = canids.org | url = http://www.canids.org/species/Red_wolf.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081217112919/http://www.canids.org/species/Red_wolf.pdf | archive-date = 2008-12-17 }}

| Historically distributed throughout the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United States, from southernmost New York south to Florida and west to Texas. Modern range is eastern North Carolina.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/mammals/red-wolf/|title=Red wolf|website=Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-10}}

| {{smalldiv|Currently considered a distinct species, Canis rufus, but this proposal is still debated. As a species, the red wolf would have the following subspecies:

  1. Canis rufus rufus, formerly Canis niger rufus (Texas red wolf)
  2. Canis rufus floridanus, formerly Canis niger niger (Florida black wolf)
  3. Canis rufus gregoryi, formerly Canis niger gregoryi (Mississippi Valley red wolf)

}}

scope="row" | C. l. tundrarum
Alaskan tundra wolf

|150 px

| Miller, 1912

| A large, white-colored subspecies closely resembling pambasileus, though lighter in color.Mech, L. David (1981), The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species, University of Minnesota Press, p. 353, {{ISBN|0-8166-1026-6}}

| The Barren Grounds of the Arctic Coast region from near Point Barrow eastward toward Hudson Bay and probably northwards to the Arctic Archipelago{{cite journal | last1 = Miller | first1 = G. S. | year = 1913 | title = The names of the large wolves of northern and western North America | journal = Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections | volume = 59 | issue = #15 }}

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. occidentalis{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

List of extinct subspecies

{{Clear}}

class="wikitable"

|+ Fossil subspecies of Canis lupus

scope="col" width=12%| Subspecies

! scope="col" width=12%| Image

! scope="col" width=12%| Authority

! scope="col" width=20%| Description

! scope="col" width=18%| Range

! scope="col" width=26%| Taxonomic synonyms

scope="row" | † C. l. maximus

|

|Boudadi-Maligne, 2012{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2012.04.003|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1631068312000802|title=Une nouvelle sous-espèce de loup (Canis lupus maximus nov. Subsp.) dans le Pléistocène supérieur d'Europe occidentale [A new subspecies of wolf (Canis lupus maximus nov. subsp.) from the upper Pleistocene of Western Europe]|journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol|volume=11|issue=7|pages=475|year=2012|last1=Boudadi-Maligne|first1=Myriam}}

|The largest subspecies of all known extinct and extant wolves from Western Europe. The wolf's long bones are 10% longer than those of extant European wolves, 12% larger than those of C. l. santenaisiensis and 20% longer than those of C. l. lunellensis. The teeth are robust, the posterior denticules on the lower premolars p2, p3, p4 and upper P2 and P3 are highly developed, and the diameter of the lower carnassial (m1) were larger than any known European wolf.

|Jaurens Cave, southern France

|

scope="row" | † C. l. spelaeus
Cave wolf

|140 px

|Goldfuss, 1823{{cite book|last1=Goldfuss|first1=G. A.|title=Osteologische Beiträge zur Kenntniss verschiedener Säugethiere der Vorwelt (Osteological contributions to different knowledge Beast of the ancients)|publisher=Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiea Caesarae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosorum|volume=3|year=1823|chapter=5-Ueber den Hölenwolf (Canis spelaeus) (About the Cave wolf)|pages=451–455|chapter-url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=-vzoIQL1-8EC|page=449}}}}

|Its bone proportions are close to those of the Canadian Arctic-boreal mountain-adapted timber wolf and a little larger than those of the modern European wolf.{{cite book|last1=Diedrich|first1=Cajus G.|title=Famous Planet Earth Caves: Sophie's Cave (Germany) - A Late Pleistocene Cave Bear Den|publisher=Bentham Books|volume=1|year=2015|isbn=978-1-68108-001-7|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=JJH8DQAAQBAJ}}}} ebook - e{{ISBN|978-1-68108-000-0}}

|Across Europe

|brevis Kuzmina, 1994{{cite journal | last1= Baryshnikov | first1=Gennady F. | last2=Mol | first2=Dick | last3= Tikhonov | first3=Alexei N | date=2009 | title=Finding of the Late Pleistocene carnivores in Taimyr Peninsula (Russia, Siberia) with paleoecological context | url=http://zmmu.msu.ru/rjt/articles/article.php?volume=8&issue=2&pages=107-113| journal=Russian Journal of Theriology | volume=8 | issue=2 | pages=107–113 | access-date=September 7, 2022| doi=10.15298/rusjtheriol.08.2.04 | doi-broken-date=2 December 2024 }}

scope="row" | † Unnamed Late Pleistocene Italian subspecies

|

|Berte, Pandolfi, 2014{{cite journal|last1=Berte|first1=E.|last2=Pandolfi|first2=L.|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269333851|title=Canis lupus (Mammalia, Canidae) from the Late Pleistocene deposit of Avetrana (Taranto, Southern Italy)|journal=Rivista Italiana di Paleontoligia e Stratigrafia|volume=120|issue=3|year=2014|pages=367–379}}

|Known from fragmentary remains, it was a large subspecies comparable in size and shape to C. l. maximus.

|Avetrana (Italy)

|

Subspecies recognized by MSW3 {{As of|2005|lc=on}} which have gone extinct over the past 150 years:

{{Clear}}

class="wikitable"

|+ Extinct subspecies of Canis lupus

scope="col" width=12%| Subspecies

! scope="col" width=12%| Image

! scope="col" width=12%| Authority

! scope="col" width=20%| Description

! scope="col" width=18%| Range

! scope="col" width=26%| Taxonomic synonyms

scope="row" | † C. l. alces
Kenai Peninsula wolf

|140px

| Goldman, 1941{{ITIS|id=726810 |taxon=Canis lupus alces Goldman, 1941}}

| One of the largest North American subspecies, similar to pambasileus. Its fur color is silver-gray or brindle-black.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 422-24{{Cite book |last=Collier |first=Arthur James |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mineral_Resources_of_Kenai_Peninsula_Ala/lig-wdYZFvQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA3-PA51&printsec=frontcover |title=Mineral Resources of Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Gold Fields of the Turnagain Arm Region |last2=Butts |first2=Charles |last3=Moffit |first3=Fred Howard |last4=Prindle |first4=Louis Marcus |last5=Gannett |first5=Samuel Stinson |last6=Dale |first6=Thomas Nelson |last7=Hess |first7=Frank Lee |date=1907 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=51 |language=en}}

|The Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. occidentalis{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | † C. l. beothucus
Newfoundland wolf

|140px

| G. M. Allen and Barbour, 1937

| A medium-sized, white-furred subspecies.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 435-36 Its former range is slowly being claimed by its relative, the Labrador wolf (C. l. labradorius).

| Newfoundland

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. nubilus{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | † C. l. bernardi
Banks Island wolf

|140 px

|Anderson, 1943

| A large, slender subspecies with a narrow muzzle and large carnassials.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 472-74

|Limited to Banks and Victoria Islands in the Canadian Arctic

|banksianus Anderson, 1943{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000746 }}

Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. arctos{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | † C. l. floridanus
Florida black wolf
but refer Synonyms

|130 px

| Miller, 1912

| A jet-black subspecies that is described as having been extremely similar to the red wolf in both size and weight.[https://books.google.com/books?id=90eEeae4rmIC&dq=%22Florida+Black+wolf%22&pg=PA42 "The Wolf"], Alsatian Shepalute's: A New Breed for a New Millennium by Lois Denny, AuthorHouse, 2004, Pg. 42 This subspecies became extinct in 1908.Klinkenberg, Jeff, [https://archive.today/20130111073323/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/50193046.html?dids=50193046:50193046&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+11,+1990&author=JEFF+KLINKENBERG&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=For+saving+the+Florida+panther,+it's+desperation+time&pqatl=google "For saving the Florida panther, it's desperation time"], St. Petersburg Times, February 11, 1990

| Florida

|Currently (2025) recognized as a subspecies of Canis rufus as Canis rufus floridanus, but debated

scope="row" | † C. l. fuscus
Cascade Mountains wolf

|140 px

| Richardson, 1839

| A cinnamon-colored subspecies similar to columbianus and irremotus, but darker in color.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 455-8

| The Cascade Range

| gigas Townsend, 1850{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000754 }}

Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. nubilus{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | † C. l. gregoryi
Mississippi Valley wolf
but refer Synonyms

|

| Goldman, 1937

| A medium-sized subspecies, though slender and tawny; its coat contained a mixture of various colors, including black, white, gray and cinnamon.{{Cite journal |last=Goldman |first=E. A. |date=1937 |title=The Wolves of North America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1374306 |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=37–45 |doi=10.2307/1374306 |jstor=1374306 |issn=0022-2372}}

|In and around the lower Mississippi River basin

| Currently (2025) recognized as a subspecies of Canis rufus as Canis rufus gregoryi, but debated

scope="row" | † C. l. griseoalbus
Manitoba wolf

| 150px

| Baird, 1858

|

| Northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba

| knightii Anderson, 1945{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000756 }}

Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. occidentalis{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | † C. l. hattai
Hokkaido wolf

|140 px

| Kishida, 1931

| Similar in size, and related to, the wolves of North America.{{cite journal|doi=10.2108/zsj.27.320|pmid=20377350 |title=Osteological and Genetic Analysis of the Extinct Ezo Wolf (Canis Lupus Hattai) from Hokkaido Island, Japan|journal=Zoological Science|volume=27|issue=#4 |pages=320–4|year=2010 |last1=Ishiguro |first1=Naotaka|last2=Inoshima |first2=Yasuo|last3=Shigehara |first3=Nobuo |last4=Ichikawa|first4=Hideo|last5=Kato|first5=Masaru|s2cid=11569628 }}

| Hokkaido, Sakhalin,Nowak, R.M. 1995. Another look at wolf taxonomy. Pages 375-397 in L.H. Carbyn, S.H. Fritts, D.R. Seip, editors. Ecology and Conservation of Wolves in a Changing World. Canadian Circumpolar Institute, Edmonton, Canada.[http://redwolves.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/13-Nowak-1995.pdf] (refer to page 396) the Kamchatkan Peninsula, and Iturup and Kunashir Islands just to the east of Hokkaido in the Kuril Archipelago{{cite book|author=Walker, Brett|year=2008|title=The Lost Wolves of Japan|publisher=University of Washington Press}}

| rex Pocock, 1935{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000757 }}

scope="row" | † C. l. hodophilax
Japanese wolf

|120 px

| Temminck, 1839

| Smaller in size compared to other subspecies, except for the Arabian wolf (C. l. arabs).

| Japanese islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū (but not Hokkaido)Shigehara N, Hongo H (2000) Dog and wolf remains of the earliest Jomon period at Torihama site in Fukui Prefecture. Torihama-Kaizuka-Kennkyu 2: 23–40 (in Japanese){{cite journal|doi=10.2108/zsj.26.765|pmid=19877836|title=Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of the Japanese Wolf (Canis Lupus Hodophilax Temminck, 1839) and Comparison with Representative Wolf and Domestic Dog Haplotypes|journal=Zoological Science|volume=26|issue=#11|pages=765–70|year=2009|last1=Ishiguro|first1=Naotaka |last2=Inoshima|first2=Yasuo|last3=Shigehara|first3=Nobuo|s2cid=27005517|doi-access=free}}

| japonicus Nehring, 1885{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000758 }}

scope="row" | † C. l. mogollonensis
Mogollon Mountains wolf

|140 px

| Goldman, 1937

| A small, dark-colored subspecies, intermediate in size between youngi and baileyi.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 463-66

| Arizona and New Mexico

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. nubilus{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | † C. l. monstrabilis
Texas wolf

|140 px

| Goldman, 1937

| Similar in size and color to mogollonensis and possibly the same subspecies.Young, Stanley P.; Goldman, Edward A. (1944). The Wolves of North America, Part II. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 466-68

| Texas, New Mexico, and northern Mexico

| niger Bartram, 1791{{MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000767 }}

Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. nubilus{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

scope="row" | † C. l. youngi
Southern Rocky Mountain wolf

|140 px

| Goldman, 1937

| A medium-sized, light-colored subspecies closely resembling nubilus, though larger, with more blackish-buff hairs on the back.Glover, A. (1942), [https://archive.org/stream/extinctvanishing00allerich#page/226/mode/2up/search/wolf Extinct and vanishing mammals of the western hemisphere, with the marine species of all the oceans], American Committee for International Wild Life Protection, pp. 227-229.

| Southeastern Idaho, southwestern Wyoming, northeastern Nevada, Utah, western and central Colorado, northwestern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico

| Currently (2025) synonymized under C. l. nubilus{{cite journal |title=An Account of the Taxonomy of North American Wolves From Morphological and Genetic Analyses |publisher= Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador|date=23 August 2012|doi=10.3996/nafa.77.0001 |last1=Amaral |first1=Michael |last2=Fazio |first2=Bud |last3=Fain |first3=Steven R. |last4=Chambers |first4=Steven M. |journal=North American Fauna |volume=77 |pages=1–67 |doi-access=free }}

Subspecies discovered since the publishing of MSW3 in 2005 which have gone extinct over the past 150 years:

{{Clear}}

class="wikitable"

|+ Extinct subspecies of Canis lupus

scope="col" width=12%| Subspecies

! scope="col" width=12%| Image

! scope="col" width=12%| Authority

! scope="col" width=20%| Description

! scope="col" width=18%| Range

! scope="col" width=26%| Taxonomic synonyms

scope="row" | † C. l. cristaldii
Sicilian wolf

|140 px

| Angelici and Rossi, 2018Angelici, F. M. & Rossi, L., [https://museodistorianaturale.comune.verona.it/media/_Musei/_StoriaNaturale/_Allegati/Biblioteca/Bollettino/Bollettino%2042(2018)/01._Angelici_Rossi_42.pdf A new subspecies of grey wolf (Carnivora, Canidae), recently extinct, from Sicily, Italy], Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, 42, 2018 Botanica Zoologia: 03-15

| A slender, short-legged subspecies with light, tawny-colored fur. The dark bands present on the forelimbs of the mainland Italian wolf were absent or poorly defined in the Sicilian wolf.

| Sicily

|

Disputed subspecies

{{multiple image

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| caption2 = Skull of a Canadian wolf

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=Global=

In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group considered the New Guinea singing dog and the dingo to be feral dogs (Canis familiaris).{{cite report |title=Old World Canis spp. with taxonomic ambiguity: Workshop conclusions and recommendations, 28th–30th May 2019 |first1=F. |last1=Alvares |first2=W. |last2=Bogdanowicz |first3=L.A.D. |last3=Campbell |first4=R. |last4=Godinho |first5=J. |author6-link=Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala |last5=Hatlauf |first6=Y.V. |last6=Jhala |first7=A. C. |last7=Kitchener|first8=K.-P. |last8=Koepfli |first9=M. |last9=Krofel |first10=P. D. |last10=Moehlman |first11=H. |last11=Senn |first12=C. |last12=Sillero-Zubiri |first13=S. |last13=Viranta |first14=G. |last14=Werhahn |year=2019 |publisher=IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos |location=Vairão, Portugal |url=https://www.canids.org/CBC/Old_World_Canis_Taxonomy_Workshop.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212111856/https://www.canids.org/CBC/Old_World_Canis_Taxonomy_Workshop.pdf |archive-date=2020-02-12 |url-status=live |access-date=6 March 2020}} In 2020, a literature review of canid domestication stated that modern dogs were not descended from the same Canis lineage as modern wolves, and proposed that dogs may be descended from a Pleistocene wolf closer in size to a village dog.{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.tree.2019.10.011|pmid=31810775|title=The History of Farm Foxes Undermines the Animal Domestication Syndrome|journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|volume=35|issue=2|pages=125–136|year=2020|last1=Lord|first1=Kathryn A.|last2=Larson|first2=Greger|last3=Coppinger|first3=Raymond P.|last4=Karlsson|first4=Elinor K.|doi-access=free|bibcode=2020TEcoE..35..125L }} In 2021, the American Society of Mammalogists also considered dingos a feral dog (Canis familiaris) population.

=Eurasia=

File:Vertebrati del Molise e dell'Abruzzo (1925) C. l. lupus & C. l. italicus.jpg (a) and C. l. italicus (b). The distinct status of the latter is currently unrecognized by MSW3.]]

==Italian wolf==

{{Further|Italian wolf}}

The Italian wolf (or Apennine wolf) was first recognised as a distinct subspecies (Canis lupus italicus) in 1921 by zoologist Giuseppe Altobello.{{in lang|it}} Altobello, G. (1921), [http://www.storiadellafauna.it/scaffale/testi/alto/Carnivo.htm Fauna dell'Abruzzo e del Molise. Mammiferi. IV. I Carnivori (Carnivora)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504133849/http://www.storiadellafauna.it/scaffale/testi/alto/Carnivo.htm |date=2016-05-04 }}, Colitti e Figlio, Campobasso, pp. 38-45 Altobello's classification was later rejected by several authors, including Reginald Innes Pocock, who synonymised C. l. italicus with C. l. lupus.{{cite journal | last1 = Nowak | first1 = R. M. | last2 = Federoff | first2 = N. E. | year = 2002 | title = The systematic status of the Italian wolf Canis lupus | journal = Acta Theriologica | volume = 47 | issue = #3| pages = 333–338 | doi=10.1007/bf03194151| bibcode = 2002AcTh...47..333N | s2cid = 366077 }} In 2002, the noted paleontologist R.M. Nowak reaffirmed the morphological distinctiveness of the Italian wolf and recommended the recognition of Canis lupus italicus. A number of DNA studies have found the Italian wolf to be genetically distinct.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1992.06040559.x| title = Mitochondrial DNA Variability of the Gray Wolf: Genetic Consequences of Population Decline and Habitat Fragmentation| journal = Conservation Biology| volume = 6| issue = #4| pages = 559–569| year = 1992| last1 = Wayne | first1 = R. K. | last2 = Lehman | first2 = N. | last3 = Allard | first3 = M. W. | last4 = Honeycutt | first4 = R. L. | bibcode = 1992ConBi...6..559W}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.98280.x| title = Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Italian and East European Wolves: Detecting the Consequences of Small Population Size and Hybridization| journal = Conservation Biology| volume = 14| issue = #2| pages = 464–473| year = 2000| last1 = Randi | first1 = E. | last2 = Lucchini | first2 = V. | last3 = Christensen | first3 = M. F. | last4 = Mucci | first4 = N. | last5 = Funk | first5 = S. M. | last6 = Dolf | first6 = G. | last7 = Loeschcke | first7 = V. | bibcode = 2000ConBi..14..464R| s2cid = 86614655}} In 2004, the genetic distinction of the Italian wolf subspecies was supported by analysis which consistently assigned all the wolf genotypes of a sample in Italy to a single group. This population also showed a unique mitochondrial DNA control-region haplotype, the absence of private alleles and lower heterozygosity at microsatellite loci, as compared to other wolf populations.V. LUCCHINI, A. GALOV and E. RANDI Evidence of genetic distinction and long-term population decline in wolves (Canis lupus) in the Italian Apennines. Molecular Ecology (2004) 13, 523–536. [https://archive.today/20120604094904/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118794860/abstract abstract online] In 2010, a genetic analysis indicated that a single wolf haplotype (w22) unique to the Apennine Peninsula and one of the two haplotypes (w24, w25), unique to the Iberian Peninsula, belonged to the same haplogroup as the prehistoric wolves of Europe. Another haplotype (w10) was found to be common to the Iberian peninsula and the Balkans. These three populations with geographic isolation exhibited a near lack of gene flow and spatially correspond to three glacial refugia.

The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis lupus italicus; however, NCBI/Genbank publishes research papers under that name.{{cite web|title=NCBI search Canis lupus italicus|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=canis+lupus+italicus}}

==Iberian wolf==

{{Further|Iberian wolf}}

The Iberian wolf was first recognised as a distinct subspecies (Canis lupus signatus) in 1907 by zoologist Ángel Cabrera. The wolves of the Iberian peninsula have morphologically distinct features from other Eurasian wolves and each are considered by their researchers to represent their own subspecies.{{cite web| url = http://www.signatus.org/docs/situation.pdf| title = The wolf in Spain}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2000.tb00801.x|title=Food habits and livestock depredation of two Iberian wolf packs (Canis lupus signatus) in the north of Portugal|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume=251|issue=#4|pages=457–462|year=2000 |last1=Vos|first1=J.}}

The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis lupus signatus; however, NCBI/Genbank does list it.{{cite web|title=Canis lupus signatus|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=425934}}

==Himalayan wolf==

{{Further|Himalayan wolf}}

{{Cladogram|align=right|title=Phylogenetic tree with timing in years for Canis lupus{{refn|group=lower-alpha|name=mtdna_seq_desc|For a full set of supporting references, refer to note (a) in the phylotree at Evolution of the wolf}}

|cladogram={{clade | style = font-size:85%;line-height:80%;width:375px;

|style1=background-color:#ccccff;

|label1=250,000

|1={{clade

|label1=120,000

|1={{clade

|label1=80,000

|1={{clade

|label1=31,000

|1={{clade

|1=Domestic dog 50 px

|2=Holarctic gray wolf 50 px

}}

|2=Late Pleistocene wolf† 60 px

}}

|2=Indian plains wolf 50 px

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|2=Himalayan wolf 50 px

}}

}}

}}

The Himalayan wolf is distinguished by its mitochondrial DNA, which is basal to all other wolves. The taxonomic name of this wolf is disputed, with the species Canis himalayensis being proposed based on two limited DNA studies. In 2017, a study of mitochondrial DNA, X-chromosome (maternal lineage) markers and Y-chromosome (male lineage) markers found that the Himalayan wolf was genetically basal to the Holarctic grey wolf and has an association with the African golden wolf.

In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group noted that the Himalayan wolf's distribution included the Himalayan range and the Tibetan Plateau. The group recommends that this wolf lineage be known as the "Himalayan wolf" and classified as Canis lupus chanco until a genetic analysis of the holotypes is available. In 2020, further research on the Himalayan wolf found that it warranted species-level recognition under the Unified Species Concept, the Differential Fitness Species Concept, and the Biological Species Concept. It was identified as an Evolutionary Significant Unit that warranted assignment onto the IUCN Red List for its protection.{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/jbi.13824|title=Himalayan wolf distribution and admixture based on multiple genetic markers|year=2020|last1=Werhahn|first1=Geraldine|last2=Liu|first2=Yanjiang|last3=Meng|first3=Yao|last4=Cheng|first4=Chen|last5=Lu|first5=Zhi|last6=Atzeni|first6=Luciano|last7=Deng|first7=Zhixiong|last8=Kun|first8=Shi|last9=Shao|first9=Xinning|last10=Lu|first10=Qi|last11=Joshi|first11=Jyoti|last12=Man Sherchan|first12=Adarsh|last13=Karmacharya|first13=Dibesh|last14=Kumari Chaudhary|first14=Hemanta|last15=Kusi|first15=Naresh|last16=Weckworth|first16=Byron|last17=Kachel|first17=Shannon|last18=Rosen|first18=Tatjana|last19=Kubanychbekov|first19=Zairbek|last20=Karimov|first20=Khalil|last21=Kaden|first21=Jennifer|last22=Ghazali|first22=Muhammad|last23=MacDonald|first23=David W.|last24=Sillero-Zubiri|first24=Claudio|last25=Senn|first25=Helen|journal=Journal of Biogeography|volume=47|issue=6|pages=1272–1285|doi-access=free|bibcode=2020JBiog..47.1272W }}

==Indian plains wolf==

{{Further|Indian wolf#Canis indica}}

The Indian plains wolf is a proposed clade within the Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) that is distinguished by its mitochondrial DNA, which is basal to all other wolves except for the Himalayan wolf. The taxonomic status of this wolf clade is disputed, with the separate species Canis indica being proposed based on two limited DNA studies. The proposal has not been endorsed because it relied on a limited number of museum and zoo samples that may not have been representative of the wild population, and a call for further fieldwork has been made.

The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis indica; however, NCBI/Genbank lists it as a new subspecies, Canis lupus indica.{{cite web|title=Canis lupus indica|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=242524}}

==Southern Chinese wolf==

In 2017, a comprehensive study found that the gray wolf was present across all of mainland China, both in the past and today. It exists in southern China, which refutes claims made by some researchers in the Western world that the wolf had never existed in southern China. This wolf has not been taxonomically classified.

In 2019, a genomic study on the wolves of China included museum specimens of wolves from southern China that were collected between 1963 and 1988. The wolves in the study formed three clades: northern Asian wolves that included those from northern China and eastern Russia, Himalayan wolves from the Tibetan Plateau, and a unique population from southern China. One specimen from Zhejiang Province in eastern China shared gene flow with the wolves from southern China; however, its genome was 12–14 percent admixed with a canid that may be the dhole or an unknown canid that predates the genetic divergence of the dhole. The wolf population from southern China is believed to still exist in that region.

=North America=

==Coastal wolves==

A study of the three coastal wolves indicates a close phylogenetic relationship across regions that are geographically and ecologically contiguous, and the study proposed that Canis lupus ligoni (the Alexander Archipelago wolf), Canis lupus columbianus (the British Columbian wolf), and Canis lupus crassodon (the Vancouver Coastal Sea wolf) should be recognized as a single subspecies of Canis lupus, synonymized as Canis lupus crassodon. They share the same habitat and prey species, and form one study's six identified North American ecotypes – a genetically and ecologically distinct population separated from other populations by their different types of habitat.

==Eastern wolf==

{{Further|Eastern wolf}}

The eastern wolf has two proposals over its origin. One is that the eastern wolf is a distinct species (C. lycaon) that evolved in North America, as opposed to the gray wolf that evolved in the Old World, and is related to the red wolf. The other is that it is derived from admixture between gray wolves, which inhabited the Great Lakes area and coyotes, forming a hybrid that was classified as a distinct species by mistake.

The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis lycaon; however, NCBI/Genbank does list it.{{cite web|title=Canis lycaon|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=228401}} In 2021, the American Society of Mammalogists also considered Canis lycaon a valid species.{{BioRef|asm|id=1005944|title=Canis lycaon |version=1.5 |access-date=17 September 2021}}

==Red wolf==

{{Further|Red wolf}}

The red wolf is an enigmatic taxon, of which there are two proposals over its origin. One is that the red wolf is a distinct species (C. rufus) that has undergone human-influenced admixture with coyotes. The other is that it was never a distinct species but was derived from past admixture between coyotes and gray wolves, due to the gray wolf population being eliminated by humans.{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/mec.13642|pmid=27064931|title=Hybridization and endangered species protection in the molecular era|journal=Molecular Ecology|volume=25|issue=#11|pages=2680–9|year=2016|last1=Wayne|first1=Robert K.|last2=Shaffer|first2=H. Bradley|s2cid=15939116|doi-access=free|bibcode=2016MolEc..25.2680W }}

The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis rufus; however, NCBI/Genbank does list it.{{cite web|title=Canis rufus|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=45781}} In 2021, the American Society of Mammalogists also considered Canis rufus a valid species.{{BioRef|asm|id=1005945|title=Canis rufus |version=1.5 |access-date=17 September 2021}}

See also

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{Reflist|refs=

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{{MSW3 Wozencraft |id=14000738 |pages=575–577 |heading=Canis lupus}}

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External links

{{Canidae extinct nav|W.}}

{{grey wolf subspecies}}

{{Mammal lists}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subspecies of Canis Lupus}}

Canis lupus