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Classification |
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Kingdom |
Animals |
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Phylum |
Chordata |
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Class |
Mammals |
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Order |
Carnivores |
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Family |
Canidae |
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Genus |
Canis |
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Species |
Lupus (gray wolf)
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Common Names |
Tundra Wolf, Timber Wolf, Gray Wolf,
Arctic Wolf, Lobo Wolf, Plains Wolf, and the Buffalo
Wolf. |
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Subspecies |
In North America, there are five
subspecies of gray wolf. These are as follows:
- Canis Lupus Baileyi
- Canis Lupus Lycaon
- Canis Lupus Nubilus
- Canis Lupus Arctos
- Canis Lupus
Occidentalis
Reference: Dr. Ron
Nowak |
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Fur |
Wolves have two fur
coats:
- Undercoat - This coat is thick
like wool and traps air to help keep the wolf
warm
- Overcoat (guard hairs) - These
hairs are coarse and hollow. This gives another layer of
insulation against the cold.
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Fur Color |
Wolves can be white, gray, black,
brown, red, and yellow. Usually, wolves are a combination of
colors. |
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Eye Color |
Most wolves have golden to yellow
eyes. Some wolves have brown eyes and I have even seen some
wolves with green eyes.
Puppies are always born with blue
eyes. |
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Say the Name |
CANIS LUPUS is pronounced like
this.
CAN-NIS
LOU-PESS
Click to hear how you say the
name
CANIS LUPUS(.au)
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Teeth |
Wolves have big
mouths.
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- Check this guy out. If I
counted right, I would say he has 42 teeth.
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Photo by Monty
Sloan | |
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Wolf Talk |
Wolves make many different sounds.
These are listed below:
- Howling
- Barking
- Growling
- Whining
- Yipping
Check out the wolf talk page
for actual sounds that wolves make:
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Breeding |
Wolves will breed anytime between
January and March. It all depends on where they live. The
further north, the later in the season they breed.
It takes 63 days after breeding to
have puppies. This is the same as the dog. It should be, since
dogs came from wolves.
Check out the puppy page for
more information on breeding:
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Height |
2 - 3 feet at
shoulders |
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Length |
4 1/2 to 6 1/2 feet long, tip of
nose to tip of tail. |
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Weight |
50 to 150
pounds |
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Paw |
3 1/2 x 4 1/2
inches |
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Description of gray wolf
-
The gray wolf is the largest of the
dog family.
 So, why are some dogs bigger than
wolves?
I think this cartoon will answer the
question.
These are dogs that have been
designed to be very very big. This is done through breeding
for large size. The truth is this big Great Dane came from
wolves.
Long Legs -
Wolves have very long legs and very
large heads. Their necks are quite small for as big as they
are.
Narrow Shoulders -
They have narrow shoulders and a
narrow rear end. This lets them accelerate fast. Useful when
trying to catch a bite to eat.
Diet -
The wolves diet consists
of:
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deer, caribou, musk oxen,
beaver, dall sheep, mountain goat, fish, birds, carrion,
elk, bison, moose, big horn sheep, and small
mammals.
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Check out the hunting page for
more information:
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