Subspecies as of 2005:
| Subspecies | Authority | Description | Range | Synonyms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurasian wolf Canis lupus lupus (nominate subspecies) |
Linnaeus 1758 | Generally a large subspecies measuring 105–160 cm in length and weighing 40–80 kg. The pelt is usually a mix of rusty ocherous and light grey. | Has the largest range among wolf subspecies and is the most common in Europe and Asia, ranging through Western Europe, Scandinavia, Caucasus, Russia, China, Mongolia, and the Himalayan Mountains. Habitat overlaps with Iranian Wolf in some regions of Turkey. | |
| Tundra wolf Canis lupus albus |
Kerr 1792 | A large subspecies, with adults measuring 112–137 cm, and weighing 36.6–52 kg. The fur is very long, dense, fluffy and soft and is usually very light and grey in colour. The lower fur is lead-grey and the upper fur is reddish-grey. | Northern tundra and forest zones in the European and Asian parts of Russia and Kamchatka. Outside Russia, its range includes the extreme north of Scandinavia | dybowskii (Domaniewski, 1926), kamtschaticus (Dybowski, 1922),
turuchanensis (Ognev, 1923) |
| † Kenai Peninsula wolf Canis lupus alces |
Goldman 1941 | A large wolf measuring over 200 cm in length and weighing 45–90 kg. It is thought that its large size was an adaptation to hunting the extremely large moose of the Kenai Peninsula. | Kenai Peninsula | |
| Arabian wolf Canis lupus arabs |
Pocock 1934 | A small, "desert adapted" wolf that is around 66 cm tall and weighs, on average, about 18 kg. Its fur coat varies from short in the summer and long in the winter, possibly because of solar radiation. | Southern Israel, Southern and western Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and probably some parts of the Sinai Peninsula | |
| Arctic wolf Canis lupus arctos |
Pocock 1935 | A medium sized wolf that is between 64 and 79 cm tall and 89 to 189 cm long, weighing between 35 and 45 kg on average, though there have been specimens found weighing up to 68 kg. | Canadian Arctic, Alaska and northern Greenland | |
| Mexican wolf Canis lupus baileyi |
Nelson and Goldman 1929 | A small subspecies which weighs 25–45 kg and measures 140–170 cm in total length (nose to tip of tail), and 72–80 cm in shoulder height. The pelt contains a mix of grey, black, brown, and rust colors in a characteristic pattern, with white underparts | Northern Mexico, western Texas, southern New Mexico, and southeastern and central Arizona | |
| † Newfoundland wolf Canis lupus beothucus |
G. M. Allen and Barbour 1937 | A white coloured subspecies typically measuring 180 cm in length and weighing 45 kg | Newfoundland | |
| † Bernard's wolf Canis lupus bernardi |
Anderson 1943 | This subspecies became extinct in 1934, though it was described as "white with black-tipped hair along the ridge of the back". | Limited to Banks and Victoria Islands in the arctic | banksianus (Anderson, 1943) |
| Steppe wolf Canis lupus campestris |
Dwigubski 1804 | A wolf of average size with short, coarse and sparse fur. The fur is light grey on the sides and rusty, brownish grey on the back | Northern Ukraine, southern Kazakhstan, Caucasus and Trans-Caucasus | bactrianus (Laptev, 1929), cubanenesis (Ognev, 1923), desertorum (Bogdanov, 1882) |
| Tibetan wolf Canis lupus chanco |
Gray 1863 | A small subspecies rarely exceeding 45 kg in weight. It is of a light, whitish-grey colour, with an admixture of brownish tones on the upper part of the body | Central Asia from Turkestan, Tien Shan throughout Tibet to Mongolia, Northern China, Shensi, Sichuan, Yunnan, the Western Himalayas in Kashmir from Chitral to Lahul. Also occurs in the Korean peninsula | coreanus (Abe, 1923), dorogostaiskii (Skalon, 1936), ekloni (Przewalski, 1883), filchneri (Matschie, 1907), karanorensis (Matschie, 1907), laniger (Hodgson, 1847), niger (Sclater, 1874), tschiliensis (Matschie, 1907) |
| † British Columbia wolf Canis lupus columbianus |
Goldman 1941 | Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta | ||
| Vancouver Island wolf Canis lupus crassodon |
Hall 1932 | A medium sized subspecies, it is generally greyish-white or white in fur color. It is a very social subspecies and can usually be found roaming in packs of five to thirty-five individuals. | Vancouver Island, British Columbia | |
| Dingo Canis lupus dingo (feral domestic dog) |
Meyer 1793 | Generally 52–60 cm tall at the shoulders and measures 117 to 124 cm from nose to tail tip. The average weight is 13 to 20 kg. Descended from feral domesticated dogs, but has evolved into a quite wild animal over much of its range. Fur color is mostly sandy to reddish brown, but can include tan patterns and be occasionally black, light brown, or white | Australia, Thailand, India, Indonesia and New Guinea | |
| Domestic dog Canis lupus familiaris (domestic dog) |
Linnaeus 1758 | Tends to have a 20% smaller skull and a 30% smaller brain, as well as proportionately smaller teeth than other wolf subspecies The paws of a dog are half the size of those of a wolf, and their tails tend to curl upwards, another trait not found in wolves
Through selective breeding by humans, the dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds, and shows more behavioral and morphological variation than any other land mammal. For example, height measured to the withers ranges from a 6 inches (150 mm) in the Chihuahua to a 3.3 feet (1.0 m) in the Irish Wolfhound; color varies from white through grays (usually called "blue") to black, and browns from light (tan) to dark ("red" or "chocolate") in a wide variation of patterns; coats can be short or long, coarse-haired to wool-like, straight, curly, or smooth. It is common for most breeds to shed this coat. |
Worldwide | |
| † Florida Black wolf Canis lupus floridanus |
Miller 1912 | A jet black wolf that is described as being extremely similar to the Red wolf in both size and weight. This subspecies became extinct in 1908. | Florida | |
| † Cascade Mountain wolf Canis lupus fuscus |
Richardson 1839 | A cinnamon coloured wolf measuring 165 cm and weighing 36–49 kg | Cascade Range | |
| † Gregory's wolf Canis lupus gregoryi |
Goldman 1937 | A medium sized subspecies, though slender and tawny, its coat contains a mixture of various colors, including black, grey, white, and cinnamon. | In and around the lower Mississippi River basin | gigas (Townsend, 1850) |
| †Manitoba wolf Canis lupus griseoalbus |
Baird 1858 | North Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba | knightii (Anderson, 1945) | |
| †Hokkaidō wolf Canis lupus hattai |
Kishida 1931 | Hokkaidō | rex (Pocock, 1935) | |
| †Honshū wolf Canis lupus hodophilax |
Temminck 1839 | Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū | hodopylax (Temminck, 1844), japonicus (Nehring, 1885) | |
| Hudson Bay wolf Canis lupus hudsonicus |
Goldman 1941 | Northern Manitoba and the Northwest Territories | ||
| Northern Rocky Mountains wolf Canis lupus irremotus |
Goldman 1937 | This subspecies generally weighs 70–135 pounds (32–61 kg), making it one of the largest subspecies of the gray wolf in existence. It is a lighter colored animal than its southern brethren, the Southern Rocky Mountains Wolf, with a coat that includes far more white and less black. In general, the subspecies favors lighter colors, with black mixing in among them. | Northern Rocky Mountains | |
| Labrador wolf Canis lupus labradorius |
Goldman 1937 | Labrador and northern Quebec; recent confirmed sightings on Newfoundland | ||
| Alexander Archipelago wolf Canis lupus ligoni |
Goldman 1937 | Alexander Archipelago | ||
| Eastern wolf Canis lupus lycaon |
Schreber 1775 | Mainly occupies the area in and around Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, and also ventures into adjacent parts of Quebec, Canada. It also may be present in Minnesota and Manitoba | canadensis (de Blainville, 1843), ungavensis (Comeau, 1940) | |
| Mackenzie River wolf Canis lupus mackenzii |
Anderson 1943 | Northwest Territories | ||
| Baffin Island wolf Canis lupus manningi |
Anderson 1943 | Baffin Island | ||
| † Mogollon Mountain wolf Canis lupus mogollonensis |
Goldman 1937 | A dark coloured wolf measuring 135–150 cm in length, and weighing 27–36 kg | Arizona and New Mexico | |
| †Texas wolf Canis lupus monstrabilis |
Goldman 1937 | Similar in size and colour to C. lupus mogollonensis | Texas and New Mexico | niger (Bartram, 1791) |
| Buffalo wolf Canis lupus nubilus |
Say 1823 | Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Single wolves have been reported in the Dakotas and as far south as Nebraska | variabilis (Wied-Neuwied, 1841) | |
| Mackenzie Valley wolf Canis lupus occidentalis |
Richardson 1829 | Western Canada | sticte (Richardson, 1829), ater (Richardson, 1829) | |
| Greenland wolf Canis lupus orion |
Pocock 1935 | Greenland | ||
| Indian wolf Canis lupus pallipes |
Sykes 1831 | A small wolf with pelage shorter than that of northern wolves, and with little to no underfur. Fur colour ranges from greyish red to reddish white with black tips. The dark V shaped stripe over the shoulders is much more pronounced than in northern wolves. The underparts and legs are more or less white. | Western India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and southern Israel | |
| Yukon wolf Canis lupus pambasileus |
Elliot 1905 | Alaska and Yukon | ||
| Red wolf Canis lupus rufus |
Audubon and Bachman 1851 | Has a brownish or cinnamon pelt, with grey and black shading on the back and tail. Generally intermediate in size between other American wolf subspecies and coyotes. Like other wolves, it has almond-shaped eyes, a broad muzzle and a wide nosepad, though like the coyote, its ears are proportionately larger. It has a deeper profile, a longer and broader head than the coyote, and has a less prominent ruff than wolves | Eastern North Carolina | |
| Alaskan tundra wolf Canis lupus tundrarum |
Miller 1912 | Has heavier dentition than pambasileus | Alaska | |
| †Southern Rocky Mountains wolf Canis lupus youngi |
Goldman 1937 | A medium-size wolf that weighed around 90 lbs on average. It is considered to have been the "second largest wolf in the United States". The coloring of the subspecies tended toward black, with lighter areas on the edges of its fur and white in various small patches. | Southern Rocky Mountains |
Read more about this topic: Subspecies Of Canis Lupus, List of Subspecies