Dr.

Roland Kays
Curator of Mammals, New York State Museum
rkays@mail.nysed.gov
New York's Coyote/Coydog/Coywolf:
What is it and how did it get here?
We barely knew you - Extinction of the eastern wolf
The Great Hinckley Hunt, OH, 1813
Peirce 1890
Eastern Cougar
Passenger Pigeon
1999 Forest Cover
What turned it around?
ADK Rangers with 1930s coyote
Talk Outline Eastern Coyote
-How did it get here?
-What Is it?
-Morphology
-Genetics
-Ecology, Behavior &
Humans (next two speakers)
FaunMap
Fossil Coyote Locations
Known and suspected coyote releases
26 from 1900-1941
Did these animals
survive to breed?
Fener et al 2005
Coyote?
Coydog? range 1940-1950
Coyotes 1940-1950
1950-1955
1965-1975
1975-2000
1955-1965
Fener et al 2005
Coyote colonization pattern 1940-2000
EasternCoyotes16-18kg
largerthan
WesternCoyotes12-14kg
Parker1995,Gompper2002
Coydogs?
1933 coydog in the Adirondacks
Typical western coyote populations
High genetic variation
Many mtDNA types in population
Northeastern Coyotes
have low genetic
diversity
How did they get here?
Northern and western colonizations
Now mixing in western NY/PA
Low genetic diversity in Northeast =
founder effect
No evidence for breeding of the scattered
introductions
What are Eastern Coyotes?
Morphology
Genetics
ADK 1933 coydog
Canis soupus
Hybridization
Coyote
Wolf
Domestic
Dog
Coy-dog
Wolf-dog
Abby Curtis
SUNY Albany
Joe Bopp
NYSM
Collection of new eastern
coyote specimens
Rochester
Central NY
Franklin Co
Eastern Pennsylvania
Ohio
Southern NY
Mellissa Grigione
Total Length (mm)
Z
y
g
o
m
a
t
i
c

W
i
d
t
h

(
m
m
)
180 185 190 195 200 205 210 215 220 225 230
92
94
96
98
100
102
104
106
108
110
112
114
116
118
W
L
Eastern Coyotes vs. Western Coyotes
Eastern coyotes
Ohio coyotes
Western coyotes
Sample Size
Eastern coyote 94
Ohio coyote 13
Western coyote 10
Eastern coyote skulls longer than Western, wider regardless of length
Ohio coyote skulls longer than Western, not as wide as Eastern.
Saratoga Co.
Clinton Co.
Albany Co.
Dosquet, QC
Total Lengt h (mm)
Z
y
g
o
m
a
t
i
c

W
i
d
t
h

(
m
m
)
160 180 200 220 240 260 280
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
Eastern Coyote vs. Western Coyote vs. Wolf
Eastern coyotes
Western coyotes
Ohio coyotes
W
L
Sample Size
Eastern coyote 94
Ohio coyote 13
Western coyote 10
wolf 8
Eastern coyote skulls closer in size to Western coyote than to wolves
Alaska wolves
Minnesota wolves
Ontario wolves
Add in Archeological Specimens
Length of Upper Canine
W
i
d
t
h

o
f

U
p
p
e
r

C
a
n
i
n
e
6 8 10 12 14 16 18
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 W
L
Compared to Extinct Eastern Wolves
Alaska wolves
Minnesota wolves
Ontario
wolves
Ohio coyotes
Eastern coyotes
Western coyotes
Sample Size
Eastern coyote 174
Ohio coyote 20
Western coyote 20
Wolf 21
Canine size
Pre-1800s
ME/NY
wolves
Skokloster Castle Wolves
Acquired Count Karl Gustaf Wrangel (1613-1676)
From Swedish Colony on Delaware River, or New Netherlands on Hudson River
DNA Evidence
Similarity
Evolutionary History
Ken@J kwebzone
Kays et al 2009
mtDNA Conclusions
-Strong evidence for wolf-coyote
hybridization
- Little evidence for dog-coyote hybridization
- Some Canis lupus in northeast, but not
breeding with coyotes.
- Hybrid populations have larger skulls
- Hybrid populations colonized faster
At least 5x faster
mtDNA Limitations
- Course-grained view of genetic makeup
- Cant quantify % wolf for each individual
- Cant detect female coyotes hybridizing with male dogs or
wolves.
- Low power to detect minor hybridizations
Additional studies with nuclear
DNA underway
rkays@mail.nysed.gov