Angela Canovas

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) Variation of Wolves (Canis lupus) in Southeast Alaska and Comparison with Wolves, Dogs, and Coyotes in North America

There is considerable interest in the genetics of wolves (Canis lupus) because of their close relationship to domestic dogs (C. familiaris) and the need for informed conservation and management. This includes wolf populations in Southeast Alaska for which we determined genotypes of 305 wolves at 173662 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci. After removal of invariant and linked SNP, 123801 SNP were used to quantify genetic differentiation of wolves in Southeast Alaska and wolves, coyotes (C. latrans), and dogs from other areas in North America. There is differentiation of SNP allele frequencies between the species (wolves, coyotes, and dogs), although differentiation is relatively low between some wolf and coyote populations. There are varying levels of differentiation among populations of wolves, including low differentiation of wolves in interior Alaska, British Columbia, and the northern US Rocky Mountains. There is considerable differentiation of SNP allele frequencies of wolves in Southeast Alaska from wolves in other areas. However, wolves in Southeast Alaska are not a genetically homogeneous group and there are comparable levels of genetic differentiation among areas within Southeast Alaska and between Southeast Alaska and other geographic areas. SNP variation and other genetic data are discussed regarding taxonomy and management.

Wolf Subspecies: Reply to Weckworth et al. and Fredrickson et al.

Colleagues disagree with statements in our discussion (Cronin et al. 2015) regarding subspecies taxonomy of wolves (Canis lupus) in southeast Alaska (Weckworth et al. 2015) and the southwest United States (Fredrickson et al. 2015). Following the presentation of results of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variation in several populations of wolves in North America, we discussed other genetic data and stated that the results “do not support a subspecies designation of wolves in southeast Alaska” (C. l. ligoni) and that designation of a Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi) subspecies “is of questionable validity.” Fredrickson et al. and Weckworth et al. provide information and insights that support the Mexican wolf subspecies designation and the southeast Alaska subspecies designation, respectively. We and they discuss the same data, so this is essentially a “lumper-splitter” (e.g., Mayr 1982, p. 240) disagreement over subspecies, and whether a degree of genetic differentiation, or strict phylogenetic independence, is needed for subspecies designation. Because subspecies and taxonomy in general, may not be the focus of many readers of the Journal of Heredity who work in agriculture, medicine, and conservation, we provide insights from the literature to explain the concepts relevant to our thinking on this topic. This is important because of the potential for misconceptions of classic principles and literature of evolutionary biology (Karl et al. 2012).