Evolution

Wolves evolved from caniforms roughly 40 million years ago somewhere in North America. While there are a fair amount of Canidae species, they are not overly different now than they were back then. Some ancestors, such as Canis Chihiensis and Canis Dirus, were a little larger in weight, but the Grey Wolf of today is about as large as Canidae get in size. Earlier ancestors are thought to have evolved from animals that lived on insects, but as early as 40 million years ago, the Canis Genus has been hunting and scavenging on larger prey.

Vancouver Coastal Sea Wolves are really only a few generations old, which could be why they are only given a subspecies categorization as opposed to being a separate species. Having separated from the main Grey Wolf population in British Columbia less than 100 years ago, there was little known about this subspecies until the 1990's. VCSW's are genetically unique from, and slightly smaller than, their inland cousins, and their diets are made up almost entirely of seafood, with 25% of it coming from fish alone. They have also developed a unique keenness for swimming between islands and rocky outcrops to scavenge on large mammal's carcasses, sometimes being seen on islands that are miles away from any other land!

References:

• Harding, B. (2021, September 27). Evolution Of The Wolf. North American Nature. Retrieved August 29, 2022, from https://northamericannature.com/evolution-of-the-wolf/

• Petri, A. E. (2021, May 3). Meet the Rare Swimming Wolves That Eat Seafood. National Geographic. Retrieved August 28, 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/sea-oceans-wolves-animals-science

• Tong, Z. (2022, August 3). The amazing sea wolves of the Great Bear Rainforest. Canadian Geographic. Retrieved August 29, 2022, from https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/the-amazing-sea-wolves-of-the-great-bear-rainforest/

Key Terms: caniforms, Canis Dirus, subspecies