Newfoundland wolf facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Newfoundland wolf |
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Stuffed specimen | |
Conservation status | |
Extinct
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Canidae |
Genus: | Canis |
Species: | |
Subspecies: |
†C. l. beothucus
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Trinomial name | |
Canis lupus beothucus Allen & Barbour, 1937
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Historical and present range of gray wolf subspecies in North America |
The Newfoundland wolf (Canis lupus beothucus) was a subspecies of grey wolf that was native to Newfoundland.
Contents
Description
It was described as being a medium-sized, slender-skulled wolf with a white pelt, though melanists also occurred. In comparison to its mainland relatives it bears a striking difference in its internal accessory cusp angles allowing for distinction between subspecies. The last specimen was reportedly killed in 1911.
Taxonomy
This wolf is recognized as a subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005). In 1912, Gerrit S. Miller Jr have concluded that in North America, specifically west of the Mississippi River and Hudson Bay, and north of the Platte and Columbia rivers, there are three types of wolves: timber-wolf, plains-wolf, and tundra-wolf.
Recent sightings
In 2019 a wolf was shot in Newfoundland after being confused for a coyote. DNA evidence found it, and a second wolf found on Newfoundland to be a Labrador wolf, which are often seen in neighbouring Labrador but rare on Newfoundland.
See also
In Spanish: Lobo de Terranova para niños