Bernard's wolf

For other uses, see Islands wolf (disambiguation).
Bernard's wolf
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species: C. lupus
Subspecies: C. l. bernardi
Trinomial name
Canis lupus bernardi
Anderson, 1943

Bernard's wolf (Canis lupus bernardi), also known as the Banks Island tundra wolf, Banks Island wolf, and the Victoria's Island wolf,[1] was a subspecies of the gray wolf, Canis lupus, that was limited to the Banks and Victoria Island of the Canadian arctic. An extinct subspecies, it was described as "white with black-tipped hair along the ridge of the back". It was formally discovered, classified, and named after Peter Bernard and Joseph F. Bernard, his nephew, after an adult male skin and skull was collected by them and brought to the National Museum of Canada.[2][3] There were very few specimens of this subspecies that were recovered, somewhere between three[4] and four[2] in total. A survey was conducted in March 1993 by the Department of Renewable Resources that was to catalog the wolf and caribou populations of the area. While a number of caribou were found and recorded, along with many other indigenous animal species, not a single wolf was found. The Victoria's Island population is believed to have died out in between 1918 and 1952.[5] They were previously widespread in their native habitat but were annihilated by excessive hunting.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Elsevier's dictionary of mammals: in Latin, English, German, French and Italian" - Google Books
  2. 1 2 "The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals" - Google Books
  3. ↑ "Bernard, P. and J.", The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals by Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins and Michael Grayson, JHU Press, 2009, Pg. 40
  4. ↑ "Wolf Empire: An Intimate Portrait of a Species" - Google Books
  5. ↑ "Southern Banks Island Wolf and Caribou Survey" - Department of Renewable Resources
  6. ↑ "Bernard's Wolf". Cosmos Smith. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
Wikispecies has information related to: Canis lupus bernardi
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