More Like this

1. Ancient Hybridization with an Unknown Population Facilitated High-Altitude Adaptation of Canids

   https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa113  

   Wang, Ming-Shan; Wang, Sheng; Li, Yan; Jhala, Yadvendradev; Thakur, Mukesh; Otecko, Newton O; Si, Jing-Fang; Chen, Hong-Man; Shapiro, Beth; Nielsen, Rasmus; et al (May 2020, Molecular Biology and Evolution)

   Parsch, John (Ed.)

   Abstract Genetic introgression not only provides material for adaptive evolution but also confounds our understanding of evolutionary history. This is particularly true for canids, a species complex in which genome sequencing and analysis has revealed a complex history of admixture and introgression. Here, we sequence 19 new whole genomes from high-altitude Tibetan and Himalayan wolves and dogs and combine these into a larger data set of 166 whole canid genomes. Using these data, we explore the evolutionary history and adaptation of these and other canid lineages. We find that Tibetan and Himalayan wolves are closely related to each other, and that ∼39% of their nuclear genome is derived from an as-yet-unrecognized wolf-like lineage that is deeply diverged from living Holarctic wolves and dogs. The EPAS1 haplotype, which is present at high frequencies in Tibetan dog breeds and wolves and confers an adaptive advantage to animals living at high altitudes, was probably derived from this ancient lineage. Our study underscores the complexity of canid evolution and demonstrates how admixture and introgression can shape the evolutionary trajectories of species. 

   more » « less
2. Elusive effects of legalized wolf hunting on human-wolf interactions

   https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu8945  

   Merz, Leandra M; von_Hohenberg, Bernhard Clemm; Bergmann, Nicolas T; Bruskotter, Jeremy T; Carter, Neil H (August 2025, Science Advances)

   Expanding gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations in Europe and North America contribute to increased risks of livestock predation, which can threaten human livelihoods and lead government agencies to target wolves for lethal removal. Public wolf hunting is a highly contentious strategy for mitigating these risks, yet few empirical studies examine its effectiveness in doing so. Using difference-in-differences and structural equation modeling of data from the northwestern US between 2005 and 2021, we analyzed impacts of wolf hunting on livestock predation by wolves and government removal of wolves in the same year and with a 1-year time lag while controlling for social and environmental variables. We found that public wolf hunting had a small negative effect on livestock predation but had no effect on government lethal removal of wolves in the same or subsequent years. Our findings challenge the assumption that wolf hunting is an effective management strategy for reducing livestock predation and lethal removal. 

   more » « less
3. Brain–Behavior Differences in Premodern and Modern Lineages of Domestic Dogs

   https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2032-24.2025  

   Barton, Sophie_A; Smaers, Jeroen_B; Serpell, James_A; Hecht, Erin_E (May 2025, The Journal of Neuroscience)

   Although domestic dogs were the first domesticated species, the nature of dog domestication remains a topic of ongoing debate. In particular, brain and behavior changes associated with different stages of the domestication process have been difficult to disambiguate. Most modern Western breed dogs possess highly derived physical and behavioral traits because of intense artificial selection for appearance and function within the past 200 years. In contrast, premodern dogs, including primitive/ancient breeds, village dogs, and New Guinea Singing Dogs, have undergone less intensive artificial selection and retain more ancestral characteristics. Consequently, comparisons between modern and premodern dogs can shed light on brain and behavior changes that have occurred recently in the domestication process. Here, we addressed this question using a voxel-based morphometry analysis of structural MRI images from 72 modern breed dogs and 13 premodern dogs (32 females). Modern breed dogs show widespread expansions of neocortex and reductions in the amygdala and other subcortical regions. Furthermore, cortical measurements significantly predicted individual variation in trainability, while amygdala measurements significantly predicted fear scores. These results contrast with the long-standing view that domestication consistently involves reduction in brain size and cognitive capacity. Rather, our results suggest that recent artificial selection has targeted higher-order brain regions in modern breed dogs, perhaps to facilitate behavioral flexibility and close interaction and cooperation with humans. 

   more » « less
4. Extinct Beringian wolf morphotype found in the continental U.S. has implications for wolf migration and evolution

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2141  

   Meachen, Julie A.; Brannick, Alexandria L.; Fry, Trent J. (April 2016, Ecology and Evolution)

   Abstract Pleistocene diversity was much higher than today, for example there were three distinct wolf morphotypes (dire, gray, Beringian) in North America versus one today (gray). Previous fossil evidence suggested that these three groups overlapped ecologically, but split the landscape geographically. The Natural Trap Cave (NTC) fossil site in Wyoming,USAis an ideally placed late Pleistocene site to study the geographical movement of species from northern to middle North America before, during, and after the last glacial maximum. Until now, it has been unclear what type of wolf was present atNTC. We analyzed morphometrics of three wolf groups (dire, extant North American gray, Alaskan Beringian) to determine which wolves were present atNTCand what this indicates about wolf diversity and migration in Pleistocene North America. Results showNTCwolves group with Alaskan Beringian wolves. This provides the first morphological evidence for Beringian wolves in mid‐continental North America. Their location atNTCand their radiocarbon ages suggest that they followed a temporary channel through the glaciers. Results suggest high levels of competition and diversity in Pleistocene North American wolves. The presence of mid‐continental Beringian morphotypes adds important data for untangling the history of immigration and evolution ofCanisin North America. 

   more » « less
5. Postcranial diversity and recent ecomorphic impoverishment of North American gray wolves

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0613  

   Tomiya, Susumu; Meachen, Julie A. (January 2018, Biology Letters)

   null (Ed.)

   Recent advances in genomics and palaeontology have begun to unravel the complex evolutionary history of the gray wolf, Canis lupus . Still, much of their phenotypic variation across time and space remains to be documented. We examined the limb morphology of the fossil and modern North American gray wolves from the late Quaternary (< ca 70 ka) to better understand their postcranial diversity through time. We found that the late-Pleistocene gray wolves were characterized by short-leggedness on both sides of the Cordilleran–Laurentide ice sheets, and that this trait survived well into the Holocene despite the collapse of Pleistocene megafauna and disappearance of the ‘Beringian wolf' from Alaska. By contrast, extant populations in the Midwestern USA and northwestern North America are distinguished by their elongate limbs with long distal segments, which appear to have evolved during the Holocene possibly in response to a new level or type of prey depletion. One of the consequences of recent extirpation of the Plains ( Canis lupus nubilus ) and Mexican wolves ( C. l. baileyi ) from much of the USA is an unprecedented loss of postcranial diversity through removal of short-legged forms. Conservation of these wolves is thus critical to restoration of the ecophenotypic diversity and evolutionary potential of gray wolves in North America. 

   more » « less