Coywolf

The coywolf is a hybrid canid resulting from interbreeding among coyotes, eastern wolves, gray wolves, and dogs. All these animals share 78 chromosomes and belong to the genus *Canis*, which makes crossbreeding possible. Genetic evidence shows these species diverged relatively recently, roughly 55,000 to 117,000 years ago. Across North America, nearly all gray wolf populations show some coyote ancestry, with the lowest levels in Alaska and the highest in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. Another name for these hybrids is wolfote.

Hybrids tend to be larger than coyotes but smaller than wolves, and their behavior falls somewhere between the parent species. In one captive experiment, six first-generation pups from a male northwestern gray wolf and a female coyote were measured at birth. Despite being born to a coyote mother, they were significantly larger and heavier than pure coyote pups born around the same time. By six months, these hybrids were observed at the Wildlife Science Center, where Executive Director Peggy Callahan noted that their howls start with a deep, strong wolf-like vocalization but shift partway into a high-pitched, coyote-like yipping. Compared to pure coyotes, eastern wolf–coyote hybrids form more cooperative social groups and are less aggressive during play. They also reach sexual maturity at two years old, later than pure coyotes.

Eastern coyotes range from New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia into the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Hybridization between coyotes and wolves in the Great Lakes region, followed by the expansion of eastern coyotes, created the largest known mammalian hybrid zone. Over 400 years, extensive hunting of gray wolves reduced their numbers and suitable mates, allowing coyote genes to swamp into eastern wolf populations. This has raised concerns about the genetic purity of remaining wolves, and eastern coyotes are too small to replace wolves as apex predators of moose and deer. The main population of pure eastern wolves is now concentrated in Algonquin Provincial Park. This vulnerability to hybridization led to the eastern wolf being listed as Special Concern by Canadian authorities. By 2001, protection was extended to wolves outside the park to preserve potential pure-blooded mates. By 2012, the genetic makeup of park wolves had roughly returned to mid-1960s levels, reversing the heavy coyote DNA seen in the 1980s–1990s.

Beyond eastern wolf and coyote crosses, some northeastern U.S. coyotes also carry mild domestic dog and western Great Plains gray wolf influences. This suggests the eastern coyote is a four-in-one hybrid of coyotes, eastern wolves, western gray wolves, and dogs. Hybrids in areas with more white-tailed deer tend to have higher wolf gene levels, while those in urban environments have less. Dog genes may have helped these hybrids adapt to human-developed areas. A 2014 study reanalyzed tissue and SNP samples from 425 eastern coyotes, finding that domestic dog alleles make up about 10% of their gene pool, a cluster of eastern and western gray wolves contributes 26%, and the remaining 64% matches coyotes. This suggests multiple past genetic exchanges between coyotes, feral dogs, and two distinct wolf populations in the Great Lakes region. Urban environments favor coyote genes, while rural and deep forest areas maintain higher wolf content. A 2016 meta-analysis of 25 genetics studies from 1995 to 2013 found the northeastern coywolf is 60% western coyote, 30% eastern wolf, and 10% domestic dog. These hybrids are now encountering the southern wave of coyote migration into the southern United States.

The taxonomy of red wolves in the Southeast and eastern wolves in the Great Lakes has long been debated. Some argue they are unique species, while others see them as products of gray wolf–coyote admixture. In May 2011, an examination of 48,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms in red wolves, eastern wolves, gray wolves, and dogs indicated that both red and eastern wolves are hybrid species. The red wolf was found to be 76% coyote and 20% gray wolf, while the eastern wolf was 58% gray wolf.