Photos of the Day #33: Grey Wolves

Grey wolves
Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758
Canidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Colchester Zoo
June 2009

I saw these beauties at Colchester Zoo last week, but I have no idea what subspecies they are. Here follows a list of recognised subspecies of grey wolf and their distributions.

Canis lupus lupus Linnaeus, 1758 - formerly throughout northern Europe, but now restricted to Scandinavia and Russia.

Canis lupus albus Kerr, 1792 - far north of Russia into the Arctic

Canis lupus alces Goldman, 1941 - Alaska's Kenai peninsula (extinct)

Canis lupus arabs Pocock, 1934 - Arabian Peninsula

Canis lupus arctos Pocock, 1935 - extreme northern Canada into the Arctic

Canis lupus baileyi Nelson & Goldman, 1929 - southwestern U.S.A. into Mexico

Canis lupus beothucus Allen & Barbour, 1937 - Newfoundland (extinct)

Canis lupus bernardi Anderson, 1943 - Banks Island, northern Canada (extinct)

Canis lupus campestris Dwigubski, 1804 - central Asia

Canis lupus chanco Gray, 1863 - Tibet and the Himalayan region

Canis lupus columbianus Goldman, 1941- British Columbia (extinct)

Canis lupus crassodon Hall, 1932 - Vancouver Island (extinct)

Canis lupus cubanensis Ognev, 1923 - Transcaspian region of central Asia

Canis lupus deitanus Cabrera, 1907 - Spain (extinct)

Canis lupus desertorum Bogdanov, 1882 - Ukraine

Canis lupus fuscus Richardson, 1839 - Cascade Mountains in northwestern U.S.A. (extinct)

Canis lupus griseoalbus Baird, 1858 - central Canada (extinct)

Canis lupus hattai Kishida, 1931 - Hokkaido, Japan (extinct)

Canis lupus hodophilax Temminck, 1839 - Honshu, Japan (extinct)

Canis lupus hudsonicus Goldman, 1941 - Hudson Bay region of eastern Canada (extinct)

Canis lupus irremotus Goldman, 1937 - southwestern Canada and parts of western U.S.A.

Canis lupus italicus Altobello, 1921 - central Italy

Canis lupus labradorius Goldman, 1937 - Labrador, eastern Canada

Canis lupus ligoni Goldman, 1937 - Alexander Archipelago, Alaska

Canis lupus lycaon Schreber, 1775 - eastern North America

Canis lupus mackenzii Anderson, 1943 - northwestern Canada

Canis lupus manningi Anderson, 1943 - Baffin Island, northern Canada

Canis lupus minor Ogerien, 1863 - Austria and Hungary (extinct)

Canis lupus mogollonensis Goldman, 1937 - New Mexico (extinct)

Canis lupus monstrabilis Goldman, 1937 - Texas and Louisiana (extinct)

Canis lupus nubilus Say, 1823 - central U.S.A. (extinct)

Canis lupus occidentalis Richardson, 1829 - western U.S.A.

Canis lupus orion Pocock, 1935 - northern Greenland

Canis lupus pallipes Sykes, 1831 - southern Asia from Turkey to India

Canis lupus pambasileus Elliot, 1905 - Alaska and northwestern Canada

Canis lupus signatus Cabrera, 1907 - Iberian Peninsula

Canis lupus tundrarum Miller, 1912 - northwestern Alaska

Canis lupus youngi Goldman, 1937 - southwestern U.S.A. (extinct)

I have purposefully left out C. l. dingo (the dingo), C. l. familiaris (the domestic dog) and the red wolf group (C. rufus / C. l. rufus etc. / C. x rufus) as they are likely distinct from the grey wolf complex listed here. Not all subspecies are recognised by everyone.