A Research Strategy to Examine the Taxonomy of the Red Wolf (2020) / Chapter Skim
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2 Morphology, Behavior, and Ecology
2 Morphology, Behavior, and Ecology
Pages 23-40
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From page 23... ...
3. How does the morphological and behavioral variation in the extant red wolf and the GCC populations compare with that found in historical red wolves?
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From page 24... ...
Assessing the morphological distinctiveness of the historical red wolf should thus start with pre-1920 specimens from its core range compared with contemporary gray wolf and coyote specimens from well outside the areas with potential hybridization. The same principles used to select red wolf specimens must also be applied to selection of gray wolf and coyote samples -- specimens whose taxonomic affinity is not contested and that lived prior to changes in gene flow that may have occurred due to post-European impacts on habitats and populations.
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From page 25... ...
Treating these historical "core" specimens as a cluster for comparison with gray wolves, coyotes, extant red wolf populations, and the GCC populations is operationally the best way to proceed. The amount of comparative material available for historical populations of eastern gray wolves is even more meager, but sufficient material is available from the historical range of coyotes and many other gray wolf populations (Appendix C: Summary of Museum Holdings of Key North American Canids)
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From page 26... ...
, suggesting that postcrania may be valuable indicators of genetic differentiation, hybridization, and ecology. An analysis of limb differences among individuals from the core historical red wolf range, gray wolves, coyotes, and putative hybrids would be valuable (see Meachen and Samuels, 2012; Meachen et al., 2014)
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From page 27... ...
. Specimen is a putative red wolf from Colorado Co., Texas, in the collection of the University of Michigan (UMMZ 111222)
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From page 28... ...
. Many clustering techniques assume a tree-like branching pattern of divergence, but because hybridization is suspected to play a role in the managed red wolves and Gulf coast canids, a non-dichotomous network approach is appropriate, such as maximal clique enumeration networks (Butenko and Wilhelm, 2006)
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From page 29... ...
Importantly, this approach can help determine whether the morphological divergence of the captive and managed red wolf populations and the GCC populations from historical red wolf populations is greater than expected, given their genetic divergence (which would have to be measured in historical populations with ancient DNA techniques)
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From page 30... ...
Because hybridization is likely to play a role in the extant red wolf and GCC populations and perhaps in historical eastern and red wolves, relationships among populations may have a network structure rather than a fully tree-like structure. Maximal clique enumeration networks (Butenko and Wilhelm, 2006)
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From page 31... ...
Finding 2-3: The skull measurements used in past morphological analyses have less power than non-metric traits for detecting hybridization. Anecdotal reports of some historical red wolf samples suggest the presence of hybrid individuals, but no attempt has been made to systematically analyze morphological hybrid signatures in historical red wolf specimens.
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From page 32... ...
But in light of the challenges described above, collecting and assessing behavioral data should be a lower priority than obtaining genomic and morphological data. Mating Behavior Differences between groups in their mating behaviors are important because they can contribute to pre-mating isolation -- that is, the prevention of cross-species mating -- between the groups.
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From page 33... ...
This behavioral feature reflects the most relevant potential ecological distinction for understanding the differences between the two species. Differences between populations in foraging habit and prey choice can reflect adaptive responses to prey availability, density, and defense.
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From page 34... ...
Without behavioral data on historical red wolves, which are impossible to obtain, it cannot be said that behavior of the extant red wolf populations offers a standard against which, along with behavior of coyotes, the behavior of suspected hybrids can be evaluated. The Ideal Behavioral Data In an ideal world, experimentation could distinguish patterns of behavior induced by anthropogenic effects from those found in unaffected habitats.
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From page 35... ...
Furthermore, these behaviors may depend on the environmental context in which an individual finds itself and thus be plastically modified as habitats change. Much has been recorded about red wolf behavior, but most of it has been based on individuals in the hybrid swarm of east Texas in the 1960s and in the managed population, neither of which may be representative of historical red wolf behaviors.
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From page 36... ...
Recommendation 2-1: The committee recommends that existing morphological data sets (e.g., Young and Goldman, 1944; Nowak 1979) be submitted to new analytical techniques that are directly comparable to genetic results, that ancient DNA sequencing and morphological analyses be performed on the same individuals, and that new morphological data be collected that are relevant to assessing the ecological and behavioral distinctiveness of historical red wolves in their core range.
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From page 37... ...
2017b. Effects of anthropogenic mortality on critically endangered red wolf Canis rufus breeding pairs: Implications for red wolf recovery.
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2011. Direct fitness benefits of delayed dispersal in the cooperatively breeding red wolf (Canis rufus)
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From page 39... ...
2000. DNA profiles of the eastern Canadian wolf and the red wolf provide evidence for a common evolutionary history independent of the gray wolf.
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