Great Plains wolf

Great Plains wolf
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species:
C. lupus
Subspecies:
C. l. nubilus
Trinomial name
Canis lupus nubilus
Say, 1823[2]
Distribution of great plains wolf
Synonyms[4]

variabilis (Wied-Neuwied, 1841)[3]

The Great Plains wolf (Canis lupus nubilus), also known as the buffalo wolf or loafer, is a subspecies of gray wolf that once extended throughout the Great Plains, from southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada southward to northern Texas in the United States.[5] The subspecies was thought to be extinct in 1926, until studies declared that its descendants were found in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.[6] They were described as a large, light-colored wolf but with black and white varying between individual wolves, with some all white or all black. The Native Americans of North Dakota told of how only three Great Plains wolves could bring down any sized bison.[7]

  1. ^ "Canis lupus nubilus". Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC): Not at Risk (4/1/1999)
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference say1823 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference wied1841 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference wozencraft2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference mech1970 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Wydeven, Adrian P; Van Deelen, Timothy R; Heske, Edward J, eds. (2009). Recovery of Gray wolves in the Great Lakes Region of the United States, An Endangered Subpecies Success Story. link.springer.com. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-85952-1. ISBN 978-0-387-85951-4. S2CID 132793403.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference vernon1926 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).