Florida black wolf

Florida black wolf
A Florida Black Wolf as drawn by James Audubon in Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America
Conservation status
Extinct  (1908)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species: C. lupus
Subspecies: C. l. floridanus
Trinomial name
Canis lupus floridanus
Miller, 1912[1]

The Florida black wolf (Canis lupus floridanus), also known as the Florida wolf and the black wolf,[2] was a subspecies of the gray wolf, Canis lupus, though this has been contested in recent years, that lived in Florida. This subspecies became extinct in 1908 due to crowding out of its habitat and hunting.[3]

Species controversy

It was once thought of as a subspecies of the red wolf, which primarily lived in Texas,[4] and that a variation in its coloring led to the creation of the Florida Black wolf.[5] A red colored species, known as the Florida red wolf, once resided in Florida as well, though also became extinct in 1921.[3] It was believed that both species, instead of being a subspecies of the red wolf, were actually a type of coyote, which led to the change in the trinomial name to Canis niger niger.[6] However, this change was invalidated by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in 1957, as it stated that the Florida black wolf, along with the red wolf and Gregory's wolf were actually not related to any known species, or the relation cannot be proven.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Canis lupus floridanus Miller, 1912 " – ITIS Report. Itis.gov. Retrieved on 2012-12-30.
  2. ↑ Murray Wrobel (2007). Elsevier's Dictionary of Mammals: In Latin, English, German, French and Italian. Elsevier. pp. 72–. ISBN 978-0-444-51877-4.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "For saving the Florida panther, it's desperation time" – St. Petersburg Times. Pqasb.pqarchiver.com (1990-02-11). Retrieved on 2012-12-30.
  4. ↑ "BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: A Short History to 1955" – Google Docs. Docs.google.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-30.
  5. ↑ Lois Denny (2004). Alsatian Shepalute's: A New Breed For A New Millennium. AuthorHouse. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-1-4184-3922-4.
  6. ↑ Jay H. Lehr; Janet K. Lehr (2000). Std Hndbk Env Health, Sci. McGraw Hill Professional. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-0-07-038309-8.
  7. ↑ Don E. Wilson; DeeAnn M. Reeder (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0.

External links