Talk:Beringian wolf

Pilot reference

I have removed the text "and are shared only with extinct European and modern Italian wolf populations."

Pilot's research paper showed that there exists among modern wolves 2 haplogroups that was referred to as haplogroup 1 and haplogroup 2 in the study. Haplogroup 2 can be found in Italy (only), but haplogroups 1 and 2 can be found in Eastern Europe and Asia with haplogroup 1 dominating in Eastern Europe. Haplogroup 2 was also found in ancient Eurasian and North American wolves (i.e. Beringia was specifically mentioned) but not haplogroup 1. The key finding of the paper was that haplogroup 2 wolves once dominated Eurasia and North America in ancient times, but something happened (ecological change after the LGM) and it diminished in Eurasia and became extinct in North America (as did the horse). The mention of the Apennine population (Italy and border areas in Fig 3 of the study) was that due to its isolation, haplotype 1 did not expand into this area and haplogroup 2 remained dominant and undisturbed. The study indicates that the genetic makeup of haplogroup 1 shows signs of population expansion, and also suggests that the post-LGM changes were less severe in Europe compared to North America. That the Beringians were genetically unique has already been stated in this article, and I believe the Pilot reference is confusing in this case. William Harris (talk) 05:47, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

It is also unclear why there is a link in the phrase "Although similar in size to modern Alaskan gray wolves" to the Northwestern Wolf, and not the Yukon wolf which is larger, heavier, and comes from a region adjacent to Alaska. (One would expect the Beringians to be large and solid, given their predatory activities.) Leonard did not specify which subspecies of modern Alaskan wolf/wolves were looked at in the study. William Harris (talk) 12:28, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

Because the Yukon subspecies has been synonimised by the USF&WS as a form of C. l. occidentalis. Mariomassone (talk) 12:56, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, I thought you would have a reason for it. I shall assume that there is an intention to update the Yukon wolf page. Regards, William Harris (talk) 21:02, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

Pilot's paper (above) is of interest - why did one haplotype of wolf thrive until the LGM, then be dominated by another? Did Haplotype 1 have some genetic advantage for a changing environment? We now must start looking at the gene-level differences. There is a pre-peer review copy of Freedman sitting on Arxiv (http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1305/1305.7390.pdf) 7 months before its official release, but this version is not what was eventually published. Part of it was stripped out to produce Ramirez (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/15/465) five months after Freedman was released. This stuff goes down to gene-level differences between the gray wolf and the domestic dog (very tedious to wade through - not advised - and yes RKW is on the list of contributors). It is a very different paper to Freedman, and the stripping out was well-advised. Even so, there were things being proposed in the Arxiv version that did not make it into Ramirez, and will possibly form a future paper. One of the differences proposed was 3 genes associated with brain function, including a gene associated with memory! The dog, it is proposed, has a better memory than the Gray Wolf. Which raises my question - did the dog's ancestor have the same, and this also differentiated her from his sisters? Regards, William Harris (talk) 20:47, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Feedback on the Beringian wolf page

Hi Mario, after I sent an email with a link to the Beringian wolf page along with a couple of questions, we have some feedback on "our" page from JL: Dear William, I looked at the page, and I think it looks great! I think it is very possible that the wolf ecotype we found in Pleistocene Alaska had a wider distribution, and the wolves in Taimyr may be included in that. It is certainly not conclusive at this time, though. I really hope we can actually get some data on this, instead of just guessing...Best regards, Jennifer. William Harris • talk • 11:11, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

Wow, great to know! Can't wait for further research.Mariomassone (talk) 11:39, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

Lineage

In 2014, a study of the remains of ancient west Canadian dogs found haplotypes shared between them and modern Canadian wolves, indicating either admixture or the lesser possibility of a separate domestication in North America. The study also looked at ancient Alaskan dog samples and found among them one haplotype that was "not closely related to modern dog nor wolf haplotypes". The implication - not spelled out in the study - is that ancient husky-type dogs may have admixed with ancient wolves from Alaska i.e. the Beringian wolves. The study called for further research. I await their next paper. William Harris • talk • 11:23, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

Editorial review - Beringian wolf

Hello YoPienso! As discussed elsewhere, may I call upon you to apply your considerable editorial skills to this article, please? The "Beringian pack" can get a bit bitey(!), therefore please feel free to make amendments as you see fit and we can all discuss any contentious issues on the Talk page. (Don't get too daunted by all of the genetics and morphology - focus on those comma splices and split infinitives and all should be well. You are in my world now....) Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 06:54, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

I made a quick start but the last paragraph of "Two types of wolf" will take a bit of time, which I'm short of right now. You may wish to revert my decision to remove a hyperlink to a section lower in the text. I stand by my decision but you certainly don't have to accept it. YoPienso (talk) 20:32, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

I think WP:OVERLINK applies to my removal of the hyperlink. YoPienso (talk) 20:56, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

Agreed, thanks. Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 20:58, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

map

Nothing between Yukon and Wyonimg? How did that happen?

Generally, these types of fossils are found buried deep in creek beds (Yukon) or in caves (Wyoming). It was fortunate that they were found in the cave in Wyoming. As yet, nothing has been found between, which indicates that this passage was only a migration route - the wolves did not stop along this route. William Harris • (talk) • 07:47, 1 December 2017 (UTC)