Many biologists recognized twenty-four subspecies of gray wolves in North America, but a recent reclassification into five main groups have cause a difference in opinion among the scientists. The requirements to be considered a subspecies are that they share habitat or geographic area, unique physical characteristics, or a unique natural history.

Kenai Peninsula Wolf ( Canis lupus alces ) Alaska ... one of the largest of north American wolves; by 1925 was ... EXTINCT!

Tundra Wolf ( Canis lupus albus ) Tundra from Finland to Kamtschatka

Arabian Wolf ( Canis lupus arabs ) light brown with very short coat, pure Arabian wolves have yellow eyes with black pupils ... ENDANGERED!

Melville Island Wolf / Arctic Wolf ( Canis lupus arctos ) the white wolf of the high arctic, found from Melville island to Ellesmere Island ... ENDANGERED!

Mexican Wolf ( Canis lupus baileyi ) smallest north American gray wolf, originally found from Mexico to the south west United States ... ENDANGERED!

Newfoundland Wolf ( Canis lupus beothucus ) reported to be almost pure white ... EXTINCT!

Banks Island Tundra Wolf ( Canis lupus bernardi ) described as white and black-tipped hair along the spinal ridge; recognized 1943 as a sub-species; between 1918 and 1952 became ... EXTINCT!

Tibetan Wolf ( Canis lupus chanco ) -*see Canis lupus laniger*-

British Columbia Wolf ( Canis lupus columbianus ) large wolf found in the Yukon, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada ... ENDANGERED!

Steppe Wolf ( Canis lupus campestris ) inhabiting the deserts and steppes of Central Asia. It has a short coarse coat that is dull gray with a tint of ochre

Vancouver Island Wolf ( Canis lupus crassodon ) medium-size, grayish in color ... ENDANGERED!

*common name* ( Canis lupus cubanensis )

Spanish wolf ( Canis lupus deitanus ) ... EXTINCT!

*common name* ( Canis lupus desertorum ) -*see Canis lupus palies*-

Cascade Mountain Wolf ( Canis lupus fuscus ) a brownish-colored wolf from the Cascade Mountains; by 1940 was ... EXTINCT!

*common name* ( Canis lupus furlongi ) - found in La Brea tar pits, was first classified as Canis milleri ... EXTINCT!

Manitoba Wolf ( Canis lupus griseoalbus ) large wolf said to be found in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and North Alberta

*common name* ( Canis lupus hattai ) -*see Canis lupus rex*- ... EXTINCT!

Japanese Wolf ( Canis lupus hodophylax ) smallest known wolf last killed in 1905 for pelt sold to an English man ... EXTINCT!

Hudson Bay Wolf ( Canis lupus hudsonicus ) a light-colored wolf found in northern Manitoba and the Northwest Territories ... ENDANGERED!

Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf ( Canis lupus irremotus ) medium-sized, light-colored ... EXTINCT!

*common name* ( Canis lupus labradorius ) Labrador and Northern Quebec ... ENDANGERED!

Tibetan Wolf ( Canis lupus laniger ) Central China, Southwest-Russia, Manschurai, Tibet. -*see Canis lupus chanco*-

*common name* ( Canis lupus ligoni ) small, dark-colored wolf from the Alexander Archipelago in the Arctic islands

Common Wolf ( Canis lupus lupus ) ... ENDANGERED!

Eastern Timber Wolf ( Canis lupus lycaon ) eastern timber wolf of Canada and the United States; the first subspecies to be recognized in North America (1775) ... ENDANGERED!

Mackenzie Tundra Wolf ( Canis lupus mackenzii ) Northwest Territories wolf; not recognized as a subspecies until 1943 ... ENDANGERED!

Baffin Island Wolf ( Canis lupus manningi ) smallest arctic wolf, found on Baffin Island; recognized as a subspecies in 1943 ... ENDANGERED!

*common name* ( Canis lupus minor ) ... EXTINCT!

Arizona Wolf ( Canis lupus mogollonensis ) medium-sized found in Arizona and New Mexico, by 1935 ... EXTINCT!

Texas Gray Wolf ( Canis lupus monstrabilis ) Texas and Northeast Mexico ...by 1942 ... EXTINCT!

*common name* ( Canis lupus niger ) roamed North America around 1900 ... EXTINCT!

Great Plains Wolf ( Canis lupus nubilus ) the Great Plains or "buffalo" wolf; usually light in color, by 1926 became ... EXTINCT!

Mackenzie Valley Wolf ( Canis lupus occidentalis ) large wolf from Western Canada

Greenland Wolf ( Canis lupus orion ) white or very light-colored wolf from Greenland, possibly extinct, no evidence that this is a distinct species.

*common name* ( Canis lupus palies ) -*see Canis lupus desertorum*-

Middle Eastern Wolf ( Canis lupus pallipes ) ... ENDANGERED!

Interior Alaska Wolf ( Canis lupus pambasileus ) dark colored wolf from Alaska and the Yukon

*common name* ( Canis lupus rex ) -*see Canis lupus hattai*- ... EXTINCT!

Iberian Wolf ( Canis lupus signatus ) Spain / Portugal not to be confused with now extinct Canis lupus deitanus

Arctic Tundra Wolf ( Canis lupus tundrarum ) light in color

Southern Rocky Mountain Wolf ( Canis lupus youngi ) light buff color ... by 1935 ... EXTINCT!

Florida Red Wolf ( Canis rufus floridianus ) in 1917 became ... EXTINCT!

Texas Red Wolf ( Canis rufus rufus ) in 1970 became ... EXTINCT!

Mississippi Valley Red Wolf ( Canis rufus gregoryi )



For more information check out these books:

• The Buffalo Wolf: Predators, Prey, and the Politics of Nature Ludwig N. Carbyn, Lu Carbyn
• Vanishing Lobo: The Mexican Wolf in the Southwest James Burbank

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