Canis lupus

Wolves are featured in mythology from around the world. They leave a huge impression on people, most likely due to their looks and howling. Most modern humans are descended in some way from ancestors who brought wolves into their lives to become dogs, and when people look at wolves they may feel some sort of awe or connection that they don't feel for other animals. This inherent connection attaches to wolves and dogs instinctively. Their are likely permanent results left on the human psyche as a result of this symbiotic relationship, such as larger frontal lobes and knowing (erroneously, as it means excitement) that a tail wag means happiness. However, just because wolves take a large place on our psyche doesn't mean that all religions had wolves, or even knew that wolves existed. Some cultures had them as their most important god, or strongest fear. Others had them in a middle role, or barely noticed them. Others just knew that they were wild animals that lived nearby, or in a foreign country. Humans interactions with wolves vary from the hunter to the hunted, to the naturalist to the storyteller. To the loving to the feared. To the conservationist to the shepherd protecting their flock. But the differences between how we thought of wolves wasn't just central to the culture, it was also based on their knowledge of who wolves are. How the wolves interacted with them, their habits. Those are narrowed down into localities. Sometimes, mythology is also based on knowledge from times passed, such as how the United States folklore fears wolves as man-and-sheep eaters, having brought their knowledge of European wolves overseas. This may not match the wolves of the location, and it is up to the people to understand the wolves of their new world and change their understanding accordingly.

General
Wolves are a member of Carnivora, meaning that they are very distantly related from other animals such as bears, seals, weasels, cats, and skunks. While wolves will have a variable diet depending on location their digestive tract is heavily based on meat. Grasses, weeds, pinecones, twigs, and berries may be consumed out of boredom, as a small part of their diet, or medicinally. They also consume the digested food, faeces, urine, ova, and semen of their prey.

Wolves come in many different colors, depending on the subspecies. In the north they may be completely white all year round, or have a phase from a dark brown or black in spring and summer to white in winter. Fully black wolves have dogs as ancestors, as the gene for a black coat without underside countershading and facial markings originated from dogs. Black wolves are more common in North America than anywhere else. Most wolves are gray with brown and/or black agouti with countershading and facial markings. For this reason Canis lupus was commonly called the gray wolf.

According to Wikipedia, there are 38 living subspecies and 14 recorded extinct subspecies. However, scientists seem to have been conflicted about the kinds of wolves there are. Are there two species of wolves, one being a coyowolf hybrid? Are there many subspecies of wolves, but only a few "ecomorphs" of those? Due to changes in science and continual internal conflict over the issue, sources are hard to find. While I initially had built this wiki to be based on subspecies, it seems that due to scientist's refusal to have an agreed consensus and willingness to be frank with the public on this matter, I've decided to list wolf mythology based on current geography. It's not my preferred method, as geography shifts and changes, and geography can be debatable in some respects- for example, do I include a sovereign indigenous land as an independant country? Or do I put it into the United States? The common approach would be the former, the uncommon approach would be to include them. But those lands are ethnicity based and have been moved back and forth, thus inferring that their understanding of the animal is, well, genetically impure. If a wolf occured on their native land and not the next, then the memory will be of both Western portrayals and experiences of the past. But to invoke the present subspecies with old thoughts, while a normal occurence for people who've moved or migrated, does mean that I'm not speaking to clearly about either one unless hard analysis could show otherwise through variable differences in body and behavior between the two subspecies. So I've decided to categorize them by countries, and the various people within, while still trying to maintain their independent cultures as well as possible.

Here is a list of the subspecies as listed on Wikipedia. Some subspecies are also naturalized wolfdogs, coywolves, or (if extinct) may have outright been coyote or dog subspecies, or outright a different kind of canis.


 * Canis lupus lupus - Eurasian Wolf. Considered the nominate species in science despite the fact their many physical and personality differences from North American wolves, which are what most people imagine and more featured in the media.
 * Canis lupus albus - Tundra Wolf. Eurasian version of the Arctic Wolf.
 * Canis lupus alces †
 * Canis lupus arctos - Arctic Wolf. North American version of the Tundra Wolf.
 * Canis lupus arabs - Arabian Wolf.
 * Canis lupus baileyi
 * Canis lupus beothucus †
 * Canis lupus bernardi †
 * Canis lupus campestris
 * Canis lupus chanco
 * Canis lupus columbianus
 * Canis lupus crassodon
 * Canis lupus cristaldii † - Sicilian Wolf.
 * Canis lupus dingo
 * Canis lupus familiarus
 * Canis lupus floridanus †
 * Canis lupus filchneri
 * Canis lupus fuscus †
 * Canis lupus gregoryi †
 * Canis lupus griseoalbus †
 * Canis lupus hattai † - Hokkaidou Wolf
 * Canis lupus hodophilax †
 * Canis lupus hudsonicus
 * Canis lupus irremotus
 * Canis lupus labradorius
 * Canis lupus ligoni
 * Canis lupus lycaon - Great Lakes Coywolf
 * Canis lupus mackenzii
 * Canis lupus manningi
 * Canis lupus mogollonensis †
 * Canis lupus monstrabilis †
 * Canis lupus nubilis †
 * Canis lupus occidentalis
 * Canis lupus orion
 * Canis lupus pallipes
 * Canis lupus pambasileus
 * Canis lupus rufus - Swamp Coywolf or Red Wolf.
 * Canis lupus tundrarum
 * Canis lupus youngi †