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Genetic Differences Between Gray Wolves And Coyotes

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A new genetic observation suggests that red eastern wolves are not true in the "species" of wolves. Scientist say that red wolves are a mix of gray wolves and coyotes. Researchers compared the genome of 23 wild canines in the USA to pure coyotes and Eurasian wolves. This led to them figuring out how much of the animals genetic material came from coyotes or wolves.Red wolves have about 75 percent coyote genes and just 25 percent wolf genes. The new data mean that both red and eastern wolves have mated with coyotes in the past. Gray wolves also have some genes of the coyote. And eastern wolves and red wolves are just as closely related to gray wolves as they are to other animals of their species. That suggests these wolf groups are more related

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