Nicholas E. Federoff Ronald M. Nowak 2002 <p>In the past, the gray wolf <i>Canis lupus</i> Linnaeus, 1758, has been recognized in Italy as either the subspecies <i>lupus</i> or <i>italicus</i>. It has also been postulated that this population has undergone introgression from the domestic dog <i>Canis</i> <i>familiaris</i>. In order to clarify these issues, multistatistical analyses were made of 10 skull measurements of 34 full grown male wolves from the Italian Peninsula, 91 other male Eurasian wolves, and 20 domestic dogs. The analyses, together with other morphological evidence and prior genetic research, support recognition of the Italian wolf as a separate subspecies, <i>Canis</i> <i>lupus</i> <i>italicus</i>. The same evidence indicates that the subspecies has not been affected through hybridization with the domestic dog.</p> application/pdf 10.1007/BF03194151 en Springer The systematic status of the Italian wolf Canis lupus article