#lux barks

[canis-latransbian]

it's fursuit friday, fuckers!

Who's ready to Zwerchhau?!

[canis-latransbian]

What's your stance on Red Wolves? Seperate species or Wolf/Coyote hybrid?

Short answer? The remaining Red Wolf population are probably best classified as hybrids, and genetically speaking would be more accurately described as Red Coyotes.

Long answer? This is a great example of a struggle in our taxonomical classification system. Prior to the late 20th century, taxonomy was primarily categorized based on morphology and behavioral observations. DNA testing has flipped a ton of this on its head, leading to things like the "fish don't exist" debate.

The modern Red Wolf genome is about 80% Coyote DNA and 20% Grey Wolf, with much of the hybridization occurring in the last 300-450 years. Of course, these ratios can be directly linked to human interference. Beyond the majority of cross-breeding coinciding with European colonization, the actions of Curtis Carley of the US Fish and Wildlife Service single-handedly decimated the Red Wolf's genetic diversity in the name of conservation. His breeding program collected 450 Red Wolves from both the wild and captivity, of which Carley ordered 95%(!!!!!) of them euthanized for being 'too coyote' based on howl morphology. When re-introduction began after being declared extinct in the wild, programs were slowed or stopped because researchers struggled to prevent the Red Wolves from immediately interbreeding with local Coyote populations (although whether this is due to population stress or a recognized kinship between the two is anyone's guess). We can only speculate how the Red Wolf population would look without human intervention (or if it would exist at all).

Jumping back to taxonomy let's consider a genetic cousin, the Eastern Wolf. It is in a similar hybrid situation, being 60/40 Coyote and Grey Wolf first appearing a few millennia ago, yet the Eastern Wolf is generally considered a distinct species (although it too has a similar if less heated debate on whether it should be). So were is the dividing line to be considered a seperate species? Well, most answers to that are arbitrary, inconsistent, and varies depending on what category of organisms you're even looking at.

So by my understanding, modern Red Wolves are an introgressive variation that fit best in the category of a hybrid swarm much like the Eastern Coyote. Both are in the process of hybrid speciation, but are not yet distinct or consistent enough to qualify as their own species/sub-species. Take all of this with a big chunk of salt, as my "expertise" consists of two semesters of genetics and an autistic love of deep-dive research. Most of my figures came from Dan Flores' Coyote America and Wikipedia.

[canis-latransbian]

It's my one year cuntiversary!! And true to brand, I remembered with 20 minutes to go lolol.

[canis-latransbian]

I've already made Misir Wat twice in the last week and hi-key wanna make a third batch tomorrow.

[canis-latransbian]

I can't believe 100 of you enjoy my nonsense

Be authenticly yourself long enough and your people will find you.

[canis-latransbian]

I'm your genderqueer bus driver.

A transit trans it, if you will.

[canis-latransbian]

Waking up to the monthly tornado siren test feels too appropriate today.