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Considering Pleistocene North American wolves and coyotes in the eastern Canis origin story
  • Paul Wilson,
  • Linda Y. Rutledge
Paul Wilson
Trent University, Trent University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Linda Y. Rutledge
Trent University
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Abstract

The evolutionary origins and hybridization patterns of Canis species in North America has been hotly debated for the past 30 years. Disentangling ancestry and timing of hybridization in Great Lakes wolves, eastern Canadian wolves, red wolves, and eastern coyotes is most often partitioned into a 2-species model that assigns all ancestry to grey wolves and/or coyotes, and a 3-species model that includes a third, North American evolved eastern wolf genome. The proposed models address recent or sometimes late Holocene hybridization events but have largely ignored Pleistocene era opportunities for hybridization that may have impacted the current mixed genomes in eastern Canada and the United States. Here, we re-analyze contemporary and ancient mitochondrial DNA genomes with Bayesian phylogenetic analyses to more accurately estimate divergence dates among lineages. We combine that with a review of the literature on Late Pleistocene Canis distributions to illuminate opportunities for ancient hybridization events between extinct Beringian grey wolves (C. lupus) and extinct large wolf-like coyotes (C. latrans orcutti) that we propose as a potentially unrecognized source of introgressed genomic variation within contemporary Canis genomes. These events speak to the potential origins of contemporary genomes and provide a new perspective on Canis ancestry, but do not influence/negate current conservation priorities of dwindling wolf populations with unique genomic signatures and key ecologically critical roles.
19 Sep 2020Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
21 Sep 2020Submission Checks Completed
21 Sep 2020Assigned to Editor
06 Oct 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
27 Nov 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
30 Nov 2020Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
09 Mar 20211st Revision Received
11 Mar 2021Submission Checks Completed
11 Mar 2021Assigned to Editor
11 Mar 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
12 Mar 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
16 Apr 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
26 Apr 20212nd Revision Received
27 Apr 2021Submission Checks Completed
27 Apr 2021Assigned to Editor
27 Apr 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
05 May 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
05 May 20213rd Revision Received
06 May 2021Submission Checks Completed
06 May 2021Assigned to Editor
06 May 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
14 May 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
14 May 20214th Revision Received
15 May 2021Submission Checks Completed
15 May 2021Assigned to Editor
15 May 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
18 May 2021Editorial Decision: Accept
05 Jun 2021Published in Ecology and Evolution. 10.1002/ece3.7757