Common Name

Scientific Name

Description

Melville Island Wolf

Canis Lupus Arctos

This wolf only occurs on the arctic islands from Melville Island to Ellesmere Island. This animal is white and of medium size.

Mexican Wolf

Canis Lupus baileyi

This is the smallest North American gray wolf. It occupies the most southern territory. It lives in the Sierra Madre and the surrounding region of western Mexico. It is generally dark and grizzly colored. It once roamed the areas of Arizona and New Mexico.

Eastern timber wolf

Canis Lupus Lycaon

This wolf had the most extensive range of any other subspecies. Its original range covered the eastern United States, including Florida and west to Minnesota. These animals come in every color imaginable.

Great Plains Wolf, Buffalo Wolf, Loafer

Canis Lupus Nubilus

This animal once roamed the area from southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada, to northern Texas. This was a medium sized animal with great variability in color.

Mackenzie Valley Wolf

Canis lupus Occidentalis

This wolf lived in the upper Mackenzie River Valley southward into Alberta. It represented some largest wolves in North America. The color of these animals varies from black to almost pure white.

Common Name

Scientific Name

Description

Tundra Wolf

Canis Lupus Albus

(Kerr , 1792)

This wolf occurs throughout the Eurasian tundra and forest-tundra from Finland eastward to the Kamchaika Peninsula. It is a large, long-furred, light-colored animal much like its North American counterpart: Canis Lupus Tundarum.

Arabian Wolf

Canis Lupus Arabs

(Pocock, 1934)

This is a small wolf with a short thin coat. It occurs in Southern Arabia.

Steppe Wolf

Canis Lupus Campestris

(Dwigubski, 1804)

The steppe wolf is a small wolf inhabiting the deserts and steppes of Central Asia. It has a short coarse coat that is dull gray with a tint of ochre.

Hokkaido wolf

Canis Lupus Hattai

(Kishida, 1931)

This wolf once roamed the area of Hokkaido, Japan. It appears to be extinct.

Honshu wolf

Canis Lupus Hodophilax

(Temminck, 1839)

Extinct. This wolf occurred in Hondo, Japan.

Tibetan Wolf

Canis Lupus Laniger

(Hodgson, 1847)

This is a medium sized wolf with long lightly colored fur. It inhabits mainland China, Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet, and southwestern Russia.

Common Wolf

Canis Lupus Lupus

(Linnaeus, 1758)

This is the wolf that once occurred throughout Europe and the entire forest of Russia. It is a medium sized animal with coarse dark fur.

Indian Wolf

Canis Lupus Pallipes

(Sykes, 1831)

This wolf inhabited Iran and India and the lands in between these two countries.