One genetic mystery. The maned wolf is a long-legged predator of South America: description with photos and videos See what a “Red wolf” is in other dictionaries
home The rarest representative of the wolf family is the red wolf (lat. Canis rufus
), which in ancient times inhabited a vast area in the eastern United States from Pennsylvania to Texas.
In the 70s of the 20th century, through the efforts of a man who saw the predator as a threat to livestock, it was practically destroyed. Only 14 individuals survived, which became the ancestors of the entire current population. Today there are about three hundred red wolves in the world, one hundred of which run free in wildlife refuges in North Carolina and Tennessee. By appearance
they resemble gray wolves, but their fur is shorter and their limbs and ears are longer. In general, redheads are slimmer than their gray brothers. The body length of males sometimes reaches 130 cm, the tail - up to 42 cm, and the height at the withers - up to 79 cm. Formidable predators weigh from 20 to 40 kg, females are a third less. Actually, these wolves are red in winter; in summer, an annual molt occurs, which makes the overall color grayish. The back and tip of the tail are usually black, the muzzle and paws are red. all year round
. The general color also contains brown and gray colors. Another danger for the red wolf is its hybridization with a coyote, from which it differs more large sizes
. In addition, these two species compete due to a similar diet: the redhead's menu also includes rabbits, rabbits and. Very rarely does a pack manage to catch a deer or pig. They do not disdain carrion and large insects. Sometimes they eat plants and berries.
But red-haired predators prefer to avoid meeting people. Throughout history, not a single case of their attacks on people has been recorded. Obviously, the poor guys already have enough from alligators, other wolves, and so on to look for additional dangers.
The breeding season lasts from January to March, pregnancy lasts about two months and ends with the birth of 3-6 (less often 12) wolf cubs. The female makes a den in abandoned burrows of other animals, in sandy slopes or in holes under trees. Babies feed on mother's milk for 8-10 weeks, gradually switching to “adult” food. By the age of one year they become independent and reach sexual maturity.
If they decide to stay in the pack, they do not have the right to have offspring. Although the atmosphere inside such a family is warm, they treat other wolves aggressively. They communicate with each other using body language, pheromones, vocalization and touch. The territory is marked with scent extremely rarely.
It has been established that one family of red wolves needs about 100 square meters for a normal life. m. At the same time, they remain in one place for no more than 10 days, constantly wandering in search of new production. These red predators are an important part of the local ecosystem, controlling the population of rodents that represent Agriculture greater danger than the wolves themselves.
Currently, work continues to restore their population in wildlife, and the species is listed in the International Red Book.
Environmental measures are primarily aimed at saving species that are on the verge of extinction and also attract our interest. For a long time, North American met both of these criteria. However, now the question of its origin has become acute. Therefore, its survival may depend on whether it is an independent species at all.
Most wolves belong to the species Canis lupus, which has several distinct morphological types, occupying certain parts of the range, including forest and tundra wolves. In the past, zoologists largely viewed the red wolf as a distinct species, distributed across the eastern United States, from Pennsylvania in the north to Texas in the west. According to the traditional view, persecution by humans and increasing destruction of habitats as a result of economic activities have doomed this species to extinction. The disappearance of individual red wolf populations began in the 60s. XX century; by 1980, only about 80 individuals remained, most of which live in captivity.
But soon a different view of this problem appeared. Some scientists have even disputed the species status of the red wolf. In their opinion, the red wolf did not evolve over millions of years, but arose as a result of hybridization of coyotes and gray wolves during human settlement and disruption of the structure of natural populations of these animals. The loss of habitat caused the mixing of previously isolated settlements, and such hybrid individuals became a transitional form to the red wolf.
Intensive research into the anatomical and genetic characteristics of the red wolf over the past few years has yielded conflicting results. Study behavioral characteristics, morphological characteristics skull, mitochondrial DNA and micro-satellite DNA confirmed the species status of the red wolf. The red wolf arose in the early Pleistocene more than 500,000 years ago, and more importantly, it was the ancestor from which modern coyotes and gray wolves evolved. According to this theory, red wolf numbers began to decline in the wild after 1940. Because of this, coyotes and red wolf-coyote hybrids replaced red wolves throughout much of their original range.
But there is also genetic evidence to support the hybridization theory. Most studies conducted in the 1990s support the new hypothesis that gray wolves and coyotes may have interbred repeatedly before European settlement in the south-central United States, although it is possible that crossbreeding may have occurred more recently in as a result of environmental changes caused by humans.
An unexpected twist in this story was the results of further genetic research, which showed a close relationship between the red wolf and wolves living in southeastern Canada, which were previously considered gray wolves. The connection was also confirmed by morphology and fossil remains. Perhaps the most interesting feature red wolves are their ability to interbreed with coyotes, making both species susceptible to genetic mixing. According to a new point of view, a significant part of those animals that were considered gray wolves living in eastern Canada and the Great Lakes region may turn out to be red wolves or hybrids of gray and red. And the “coyotes” that now inhabit the eastern United States may be hybrids of coyotes and red wolves.
Red wolves are almost indistinguishable in appearance from their much more common relatives, gray wolves. Only some individuals have a pronounced red coloration. An example is this beautiful specimen, which is a mixture of tan, fawn, gray and black.
This new information allowed us to put forward another hypothesis about the origin of the red wolf. She suggests that gray wolves, red wolves and coyotes are descendants of a common North American ancestor, with the red wolf and coyote making up one evolutionary branch and the gray wolf another. According to this model of evolution, the predecessor of all modern wolves migrated to Eurasia 1-2 million years ago, where it developed into modern gray wolf before returning to North America in the Pleistocene, about 300,000 years ago. Around the same time, the Eastern Canadian red wolf and coyote split, which originated in North America.
Clearly, red and gray wolf recovery efforts in North America will need to be re-evaluated if red wolf populations are found to remain in southeastern Canada. This is much more than a purely academic interest, considering that the Ministry of Nature and Fisheries spends approximately 4 million US dollars annually on the reintroduction of the red wolf.
It is now believed that the wolves of southeastern Canada are a mixture of hybrids between in different forms- between the Old World gray wolf lupus and the native New World lycaon wolf, and between the red wolf and coyote and the gray wolf. Some of them may also be gray wolf-coyote hybrids. Although geneticists believe that direct hybridization between gray wolves and coyotes is unlikely to occur, it is possible that it occurred in "steps" with red wolf-coyote hybrids mating with gray wolves.
The dilemma for conservation organizations is to determine, if such hybridization has occurred, was it caused by human influence? If the red wolf is not real look, then the question of the degree of human participation in this phenomenon becomes more than controversial. If it is a real species and hybridization is a natural phenomenon, then it is a "process" of speciation rather than a "steady state". If hybridization is caused economic activity human, then this wolf should be protected for all the reasons we work to preserve biodiversity in nature. The lesson is that we must place equal emphasis on conservation of evolutionary processes and conservation of species. Until now, conservationists have paid attention only to the protection of the species themselves, but this approach is inappropriate on the scale of evolutionary time. It is likely that the evolution of North American wolves has not ended; it is happening before our eyes. Despite the advent of genetic techniques that have increased our ability to study taxonomy, our knowledge of relatedness wild wolves gaping voids remain. The discovery of the recipe for the formation of natural “wolf crosses” in North America is an important area of work to protect endangered species.
South America is home to one unique animal called the maned wolf (guara). It has both the features of a wolf and a fox and is a relict animal. Guara has unusual appearance: graceful, atypical for a wolf, physique, long legs, sharp muzzle and rather large ears.
Description of the maned wolf
In appearance, the maned wolf simultaneously resembles a dog. This is not a very large animal. Its body length is usually just over a meter and its height is 60-90 centimeters. The weight of an adult wolf can reach 25 kilograms.
Appearance
His distinctive feature are a sharp, fox-like snout, a long neck and large, protruding ears. The body and tail are quite short, and the limbs are thin and long. The color of the maned wolf is also interesting. The predominant brown color of the fur in the belly area changes to yellow, and in the mane area - to reddish. Characteristic feature There are also dark markings on the paws, tip of the tail and face of the animal.
The guar's fur is thick and soft. Along the back it is slightly longer than on other parts of the body, and forms a kind of “mane”. In moments of danger, it can rise almost vertically. It was thanks to her that the maned wolf got its name. The long legs of the maned wolf are not well suited for running; they are rather designed for moving through tall grass and better viewing the surroundings. It is noteworthy that guar cubs are born with short fingers. The paws lengthen as the animal grows.
Character and lifestyle
Males and females of maned wolves lead a more solitary lifestyle, uniting in pairs only in mating seasons. It is not typical for them to form packs, as is the case for most canines. The peak of activity occurs in the evening and at night.
During the daytime, the guara usually rests among dense vegetation or in its den, which the animal makes in an abandoned, empty hole or under a fallen tree. During daylight hours, it may be forced to move short distances. With the onset of darkness, the maned wolf goes out hunting, combining it with patrolling its territory (usually areas of up to 30 sq. m).
This is interesting! Animals feed alone. Long paws allow them to see prey over dense and tall vegetation, and large ears allow them to hear it in the dark. To get a better look around, the guara stands on its hind legs.
Male maned wolves are more active than females. Social structure in these animals it is represented by a mating pair, which occupies a certain area of the territory, marked with excrement. The pair behaves quite independently: resting, obtaining food and patrolling the territory are carried out alone. In captivity, animals stay more closely together - they feed, rest and raise offspring together. The construction of a hierarchical system also becomes characteristic of males.
An interesting feature of the maned wolf is the sounds it makes. If a drawn-out and loud hoot is heard from dense thickets of grass, this means that the animal is driving away in this way uninvited guests from its territory. They are also capable of making growls, loud barks and light grunts.
The guar is not dangerous for people; there has not been a single recorded case of this animal attacking a person. Despite the ban on killing these animals, the number of maned wolves is steadily declining. Local residents exterminate it for sport. The guara is not a very agile animal and is an easy prey for hunters, and farm owners destroy it to protect their livestock.
How long do guara live?
The guar reaches sexual maturity in one year. The lifespan of a maned wolf can reach 10-15 years.
Range, habitats
The habitat of the maned wolf is in certain countries South America(Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia). The habitats of this animal are mainly the pampas (South American lowland areas with a subtropical climate and steppe vegetation).
Maned wolves are also common in dry savannas, campos (tropical and subtropical ecosystems), and hilly and wooded areas. There have been cases of guara living in swampy areas. But this animal is not found in the mountains and rain forests. It is quite rare throughout its habitat.
Maned wolf diet
Although the maned wolf is a predatory animal, its diet contains a lot of food not only from animals, but also plant origin. The guar feeds mainly on small rodents, rabbits, large insects, reptiles, fish, shellfish, as well as birds and their eggs. Occasionally attacks deer, rare for the pampas.
This is interesting! If a maned wolf lives near human settlements, then it is quite capable of raiding them farms, attacking lambs, chickens or pigs. That's why local residents They try in every possible way to discourage the guara from their possessions.
Despite the fact that the maned wolf is a predator, it does not hunt very successfully. This animal cannot run fast because it has a small lung capacity. And its underdeveloped jaws do not allow it to attack large animals, so the basis of its diet is armadillos, rats, tuco-tuco and agouti. In hungry, dry years, maned wolves can unite in small packs, which allows them to hunt larger animals.
Reproduction and offspring
The mating and breeding season of the guara occurs in mid-autumn and winter. In the wild, offspring appear during the dry period (June-September). The female makes her den in secluded places with dense vegetation.
This is interesting! She bears offspring for 60-66 days. Usually between one and seven puppies are born, which is what wolf cubs are called.
Wolf cubs are dark gray in color and have a white tail tip.. Their weight is 300-400 grams. For the first 9 days after birth, puppies remain blind. Their ears begin to stand up after a month, and their fur begins to acquire the color characteristic of adults only after 2.5 months. For the first month, the female feeds the offspring with milk, after which she adds solid, semi-digested food to their diet, which she regurgitates for them.
Observations of animals in captivity have shown that females and males raise offspring together. Males take an active part in raising the young. He gets food, protects the female and the young from uninvited guests, plays with the puppies and teaches them to hunt and get their own food. Young animals reach sexual maturity by the age of one year, but begin to reproduce only after two years of age.
The rarest member of the wolf family, the red wolf once inhabited most eastern USA, from Pennsylvania to Texas. However, in the 20th century, due to extermination, habitat destruction, and hybridization with coyotes, red wolves were on the verge of extinction. Their range was first reduced to the extreme southwest of Louisiana and southeast Texas, and by the end of the 70s of the 20th century, red wolves in the wild finally disappeared, and only individuals survived in zoos and nurseries. Since 1988, work has been underway to return red wolves to natural environment habitat - in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.
Appearance
Red wolves differ from their closest relative, the gray wolf, in their smaller size. The red wolf is slimmer, has longer legs and ears, and shorter fur. However, it is larger than a coyote: its body length is 100-130 cm, tail - 30-42 cm, height at the withers - 66-79 cm. Adult males weigh 20-41 kg, females, as a rule, are 1/3 lighter.
The fur color includes red, brown, gray and black. The back is usually black. The muzzle and limbs are reddish, the end of the tail is black. The red coloration, from which the species gets its name, predominated among Texas populations. Red fur is also dominant in winter. The annual molt occurs in the summer.
Lifestyle and nutrition
In terms of lifestyle, the red wolf is close to the common wolf. Initially they lived in forests, swampy lowlands and coastal prairies; were nocturnal. Now red wolves are being reintroduced into hard-to-reach mountainous and swampy areas.
Red wolves have smaller packs than gray ones; they consist of a married (breeding) couple and its offspring, both young and grown. Sometimes families grow significantly larger. There are practically no manifestations of aggression in the family, but family members are unfriendly towards unfamiliar wolves.
The red wolf's food consists primarily of rodents (including nutria and muskrats), rabbits and raccoons; Occasionally a flock catches a deer. Supplementing the diet are insects and berries, as well as carrion.
In turn, red wolves can become victims of other wolves, including relatives from other packs, alligators or pumas. Young animals are preyed upon by predators such as bobcats.
Reproduction
Red wolves live in families in which only dominant pairs breed. A pair, like other wolves, is created for a long time. The remaining members of the group help raise the offspring and bring food for the lactating wolves.
The breeding season lasts from January to March. Pregnancy lasts 60-63 days; In a litter there are on average 3-6 puppies (rarely - up to 12), which are born in the spring. Females make dens in holes under fallen trees, in sandy slopes, and along river banks. Both parents care for the offspring; puppies become independent at 6 months.
The average lifespan of a red wolf in nature is 8 years; in captivity they lived up to 14 years.
Population status
Traditionally, there were three subspecies of the red wolf, two of which became extinct.
- Canis rufus floridanus extinct by 1930,
- Canis rufus rufus declared extinct in 1970,
- Canis rufus gregoryi became extinct in nature by 1980.
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Excerpt characterizing the Red Wolf
- This bitch is good! – he said in a casual tone. - Rezva?- This? Yes, this one - kind dog“He’s catching,” Ilagin said in an indifferent voice about his red-spotted Erza, for which a year ago he gave his neighbor three families of servants. “So you, Count, don’t boast about threshing?” – he continued the conversation he had started. And considering it polite to repay the young count in kind, Ilagin examined his dogs and chose Milka, who caught his eye with her width.
- This black-spotted one is good - okay! - he said.
“Yes, nothing, he’s jumping,” answered Nikolai. “If only a seasoned hare ran into the field, I would show you what kind of dog this is!” he thought, and turning to the stirrup man said that he would give a ruble to anyone who suspected, that is, found a lying hare.
“I don’t understand,” Ilagin continued, “how other hunters are envious of the beast and the dogs.” I'll tell you about myself, Count. It makes me happy, you know, to take a ride; Now you’ll get together with such a company... what’s better (he again took off his beaver cap in front of Natasha); and this is to count the skins, how many I brought - I don’t care!
- Well, yes.
- Or so that I would be offended that someone else’s dog catches it, and not mine - I just want to admire the baiting, right, Count? Then I judge...
“Atu - him,” a drawn-out cry was heard at that time from one of the stopped Greyhounds. He stood on a half-mound of stubble, raising his arapnik, and once again repeated in a drawn-out manner: “A—tu—him!” (This sound and the raised arapnik meant that he saw a hare lying in front of him.)
“Oh, I suspected it,” Ilagin said casually. - Well, let's poison him, Count!
- Yes, we need to drive up... yes - well, together? - Nikolai answered, peering at Erza and the red Scolding uncle, two of his rivals with whom he had never managed to match his dogs. “Well, they’ll cut my Milka out of my ears!” he thought, moving towards the hare next to his uncle and Ilagin.
- Seasoned? - Ilagin asked, moving towards the suspicious hunter, and not without excitement, looking around and whistling to Erza...
- And you, Mikhail Nikanorych? - he turned to his uncle.
The uncle rode frowning.
- Why should I meddle, because yours are pure marching! - in the village they pay for the dog, your thousands. You try on yours, and I’ll take a look!
- Scold! On, on,” he shouted. - Swearing! - he added, involuntarily using this diminutive to express his tenderness and hope placed in this red dog. Natasha saw and felt the excitement hidden by these two old men and her brother and was worried herself.
The hunter stood on the half-hill with a raised arapnik, the gentlemen approached him at a step; the hounds, walking on the very horizon, turned away from the hare; the hunters, not the gentlemen, also drove away. Everything moved slowly and sedately.
-Where is your head lying? - Nikolai asked, approaching a hundred paces towards the suspicious hunter. But before the hunter had time to answer, the hare, sensing the frost by tomorrow morning, could not stand still and jumped up. A pack of hounds on bows, with a roar, rushed downhill after the hare; from all sides the greyhounds, who were not in the pack, rushed at the hounds and the hare. All these slowly moving hunters are screaming: stop! knocking down the dogs, the greyhounds shout: atu! guiding the dogs, they galloped across the field. Calm Ilagin, Nikolai, Natasha and uncle flew, not knowing how or where, seeing only dogs and a hare, and only fearing to lose sight of the course of the persecution even for a moment. The hare was seasoned and playful. Jumping up, he did not immediately gallop, but moved his ears, listening to the screaming and stomping that suddenly came from all sides. He jumped ten times slowly, allowing the dogs to approach him, and finally, having chosen the direction and realizing the danger, he put his ears to the ground and rushed at full speed. He was lying on the stubble, but in front there were green fields through which it was muddy. The two dogs of the suspicious hunter, who were closest, were the first to look and lay after the hare; but they had not yet moved far towards him, when the Ilaginskaya red-spotted Erza flew out from behind them, approached a dog's distance, with terrible speed attacked, aiming at the hare's tail and thinking that she had grabbed it, rolled head over heels. The hare arched his back and kicked even harder. Wide-bottomed, black-spotted Milka came out from behind Erza and quickly began to sing to the hare.
- Honey! mother! – Nikolai’s triumphant cry was heard. It seemed that Milka would strike and catch the hare, but she caught up and rushed past. The Rusak moved away. The beautiful Erza swooped in again and hung over the hare’s very tail, as if trying to grab him by the back thigh so as not to make a mistake now.
- Erzanka! sister! – Ilagin’s voice was heard crying, not his own. Erza did not heed his pleas. At the very moment when one should have expected her to grab the hare, he whirled and rolled out to the line between the greenery and the stubble. Again Erza and Milka, like a pair of drawbars, aligned themselves and began to sing to the hare; at the turn it was easier for the hare; the dogs did not approach him so quickly.
Five red American wolf cubs from the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (Tacoma, Washington) were born this spring and are now beginning to gradually emerge from their den and explore the spacious enclosure.
However, the wolf cubs do not go far and try to stay close to their mother, since they are still milk-bearing and feed only on her milk.
Red American wolf(Canis lupus rufus) is the rarest representative of the wolf family. This species once inhabited much of the eastern United States, from Pennsylvania to Texas. However, in the 20th century. Due to extermination, habitat destruction, and hybridization with coyotes, red wolves are on the verge of extinction.
By the end of the 70s, red wolves completely disappeared in the wild, surviving only in American zoos and special nurseries (only a subspecies of three - Canis rufus gregoryi, the other two Canis rufus rufus andCanis rufus floridanus completely extinct ).
From your closest relative gray wolf red wolves are smaller in size. The red wolf is slimmer, has longer legs and ears, and shorter fur. However, it is larger than a coyote: its body length is 100-130 cm, its tail is 30-42 cm, and its height at the withers is 66-79 cm.
In the wild, red wolves fed mainly on raccoons, rabbits and small rodents. Occasionally, if the flock was large, they could kill a deer. The red wolf is listed in the International Red Book with the status "critically endangered species"(Critically endangered).
