A few weeks back The Tracker posted on a spate of stories about the Eastern Coyotes that have arrived along and near the Atlantic seaboard in the last decade or two. The consensus is that they reflect interbreeding with Canadian wolves. Canadian Broadcasting Corp’s Quirks & Quarks show hosted by Bob McDonald moved the ball forward quite a bit on Saturday. McDonald interviewed a NY researcher with a new paper out on this hybrid predator. He is terrific on the radio: enthusiastic, clear and fast talking, and blessed with a skill at succinct explanation of science. And, he does it in plain English as McDonald peppers him with questions.

The link goes right to the MP3 audio file, suitable for replay on a modest commute, walk, jog, or session on the stationary bike. This segment is part of a longer Saturday program with other looks at the new fossil Ardi, an advance on the upcoming smack upon the Moon by NASA’s LCROSS mission; why team exercise keeps one facing the pain longer; and the resident tribes of Orcas in the Pacific Northwest having a tough time without the usual salmon to eat.

Most interesting, to this mind, is revelation that the bulked-up hybrids are not only sweeping rapidly into eastern woodlands, but have circled the Great Lakes and begun migrating west through the US – meeting head-on a slower invasion of pure coyotes that have infitrated from the prairie states. Further interbreeding presumably is underway there – but the pure coyotes don’t seem to have much chance against their larger, hybrid cousins. AND, it appears, the root stock coywolves in Ontario may be continuing their trysts with wolves, offering the prospect of a continuing, growing lupine genetic admixture seeping its way south and  into forests where pure wolves are long gone.

Other recent stories on this study of Eastern Coyotes:

• AP: NY scientists show hoe coyotes became top dog ‘;
• AAAS ScienceNOW – Elizabeth Pennisi: Wolf in Coyote’s Clothing ;
• Discovery News – Jennifer Viegas: Coyote + wolf = new breed of predator.
• Scientific American – Carina Storrs: Wylie Coywolf…;

Grist for the Mill (Also at Q&Q’s site):

Biology Letters paper abstract ; NY State Museum Press Release ;

Plus (source of pic above): Eastern Coyote Research Center ;

Pic (c) 2007 – 2009. Jonathan G. Way, Ph.D.

- Charlie Petit

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Science Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.