Arctic wolf

"White wolf" and "Polar wolf" redirect here. For other uses, see White Wolf (disambiguation). For the prison in Russia, see FKU IK-3, Kharp.

Arctic wolf

Data Deficient (COSEWIC)[1][2]
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. arctos
Trinomial name
Canis lupus arctos
Pocock, 1935
Historical and present range of grey wolf subspecies in North America

The Arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos), also known as the white wolf, polar wolf, and the Arctic grey wolf, is a subspecies of grey wolf native to the High Arctic tundra of Canada's Queen Elizabeth Islands, from Melville Island to Ellesmere Island.[3][4] Unlike some populations that move between tundra and forest regions,[5] Arctic wolves spend their entire lives north of the northern treeline.[6] Their distribution to south is limited to the northern fringes of the Middle Arctic tundra on the southern half of Prince of Wales and Somerset Islands.[4] It is a medium-sized subspecies, distinguished from the northwestern wolf by its smaller size, its whiter colouration, its narrower braincase,[7] and larger carnassials.[8] Since 1930, there has been a progressive reduction in size in Arctic wolf skulls, which is likely the result of wolf-dog hybridization.[8]

  1. ^ "Canadian Wildlife Species at Risk 2021". 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  2. ^ "Canis lupus arctos". Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  3. ^ Mech, L. David (1981), The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species, University of Minnesota Press, p. 352, ISBN 0-8166-1026-6
  4. ^ a b "Ecoregions 2017 ©". ecoregions.appspot.com.
  5. ^ "Wolves".
  6. ^ "Arctic Wolf Facts and Adaptations - Canis lupus arctos".
  7. ^ Goldman, E. A. (1964). Classification of wolves. In The Wolves of North America Part 2. Young, S. P. & Goldman, E. A. (Eds.) New York: Dover Publs. p. 430.
  8. ^ a b Clutton-Brock, J.; Kitchener, A. C.; Lynch, J. M. (1994). "Changes in the skull morphology of the Arctic wolf, Canis lupus arctos, during the twentieth century". Journal of Zoology. 233: 19–36. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1994.tb05259.x.