N.E. Federoff L.D. Mech 2002 <p><span>We used data on the polymorphic status of α</span>₁<span>-antitrypsin (α</span>₁<span>AT) to study the relationship of Minnesota wolves to the gray wolf (</span><i>Canis lupus</i><span>), which was thought to have evolved in Eurasia, and to red wolves (</span><i>Canis rufus</i><span>) and coyotes (</span><i>Canis latrans</i><span>), which putatively evolved in North America. Recent evidence had indicated that Minnesota wolves might be more closely related to red wolves and coyotes. Samples from wild-caught Minnesota wolves and from captive wolves, at least some of which originated in Alaska and western Canada, were similarly polymorphic for α</span>₁<span>AT, whereas coyote and red wolf samples were all monomorphic. Our findings, in conjunction with earlier results, are consistent with the Minnesota wolf being a gray wolf of Eurasian origin or possibly a hybrid between the gray wolf of Eurasian origin and the proposed North American wolf.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1139/z02-066 en Canadian Science Publishing α1-Antitrypsin polymorphism and systematics of eastern North American wolves article