Coyote or Wolf? Science Solves the Mystery
A new study published by researchers at the New York State Museum has confirmed that a large “coyote” shot by a hunter in Cherry Valley, Otsego County, in December 2021 was actually a wild Gray Wolf. The research, led by NYSM Curator of Birds and Mammals Dr. Jeremy Kirchman and detailed in a peer-reviewed paper in Northeastern Naturalist (https://bit.ly/4nv0EDj), provides evidence of occasional long-distance dispersals by wolves into the northeastern United States, a region where the species was extirpated (became locally extinct) by the end of the 19th century.
The researchers examined the skull morphology and diet of the specimen and compared its genome with DNA sampled from 435 wolves, coyotes, and dogs. The analyses grouped the Cherry Valley specimen with Gray Wolves. When DNA results confirmed the animal was a wolf and not a coyote, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation confiscated the taxidermy mount and skull and transferred them to the NYSM Mammalogy Collection. The hunter cooperated fully with officials and was not fined.
The Cherry Valley wolf is currently on display as part of the NYSM's Canine Contrasts exhibit, where visitors can learn about the complex history of wolves and coyotes and their hybrid descendants in eastern North America.
Learn more about the exhibit here: https://nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/biology/mammalogy/news/cani…