Canis rufus ssp. floridanus (Florida Red Wolf)

[Melanie]

The Black Wolf once ranged over the whole of Florida, Tennessee and south Georgia. It was common in Alabama in the eighteenth century where it roamed in small packs in mountaineous areas, but 1894 it had been driven out of the big swamps near Baldwin and Mobile. In peninsular Florida the last Black Wolf was killed in 1908. In the 1910s the Black Wolf still survived in some rough hilly areas where, driven by starvation, it reputedly made a number of attacks on dometic cattle. Hunting, trapping and poisoning campaigns were rapidly increased with the inevitable results. In Colbert County in 1917 the last reported Black Wolf was shot, but this was a hyprid Black Wolf that had been from the smaller and more numerous Red Wolf.

Painting in "The Doomsday Book of Animals"

[sebbe67]

melanie, do you now if this subspecies still are valid or not?

[Melanie]

According to this article the Florida Black Wolf is still valid

www.wolfology.com/id229.htm

But another thing. There was once a name change from Canis niger niger into Canis lupus floridanus. When you see the painting in "Doomday Book of Animals" you'll see that is was unique. An enormously beautiful and mysterious black creature from the swamp.

[another specialist]

THE BLACK WOLF.


AT one time the Black Wolf of America was considered by naturalists to be only a variety of the common Wolf, but it is now believed to be a distinct species, not only by reason of the color of its fur but from differences of stature, the position of the eye, the peculiar bushiness of the hair and other evidence entitling it to rank as a separate species. This variety is referred to as an inhabitant of Florida, and is described as partaking of the general lupine character, being fierce, dangerous, and at the same time cowardly and pusillanimous, when they find themselves fairly enclosed. If imprisoned in even a large space, they crouch timidly in the corners, and do not venture to attack man when he enters the cage. Audubon mentions a curious instance of this strange timidity in a ferocious nature, of which he was an eye-witness: "A farmer had suffered greatly from Wolves, and determined to take revenge by means of pitfalls, of which he had dug several within easy reach of his residence. They were eight feet in depth and wider at the bottom than at the top. Into one of these traps three fine Wolves had fallen, two of them black, and the other a brindled animal. To the very great astonishment of Mr. Audubon, the farmer got into the pit, pulled out the hind legs of the Wolves, as they lay trembling at the bottom, and with his knife severed the chief tendon of the hind limbs, so as to prevent their escape. The skins of the captured animals were sufficiently valuable to reimburse the farmer for his labor and his previous losses."

The Esquimaux use traps made of large blocks of ice, constructed in the same manner as our ordinary mouse trap with a drop-door. The trap is made so narrow that the Wolf cannot turn himself, and when he is closed in by the treacherous door, he is put to death by spears.

Wood says that when Wolves and Dogs are domesticated in the same residence a mutual attachment will often spring up between them, although they naturally bear the bitterest hatred to each other. A mixed offspring is sometimes the result of this curious friendship, and it is said that these half-breed animals are more powerful and courageous than the ordinary Dog. Mr. Palliser possessed a fine animal of this kind, the father of which was a White Wolf and the mother an ordinary Indian Dog. It is a well-known fact that the Esquimaux are constantly in the habit of crossing their sledge Dogs with Wolves in order to impart strength and stamina to the breed. Indeed they are so closely related to Wolves that there can be no question that they are descended from them.

The Wolf produces from three to nine young in a litter. In January the mother Wolf begins to prepare her habitation, a task in which she is protected or assisted by her mate, who has won her in a fair fight from his many rivals. He attaches himself solely to one mate, and never leaves her till the young Wolves are able to shift for themselves. The den in which the young cubs are born is warmly lined with fur which she pulls from her own body. The cubs are born in March and remain under her protection seven or eight months. They begin to eat animal food in four weeks after birth.

The Wolf's whelp will at last a Wolf become
Though from his birth he find with man a home.
Arabian Proverb.

www.birdnature.com/jul1898/wolf.html

[another specialist]

This is a valid subspecies atleast and may result to be a valid species....

[Melanie]

Well, David Day has written that it was once considered as own species. But then there was a debate and they have insert it as a subspecies of the Red Wolf.

[Melanie]

Here is an interesting fact about black colored red wolves. A red wolve with a black fur was photographed 1934 in Louisiana. But i think that it was only a rare coloring phase (similar to white tigers or black panthers) and not the distinct black wolf of Florida, because this species was neither occured in Mississippi nor in Louisiana. (the neighbor states of Florida)

Here is the foto of the black-colored red wolve from Louisiana

[another specialist]

William Bartram, the Philadelphia naturalist who visited the southeast in the late 1700's referred.to the Black Wolves he saw in Florida as -"Lupis niger". Audubon and Blackman, in their book "The Quadrupeds of North America" published in 1851, listed the "Black -American Wolf" as being native from Florida to southern Indiana and Missouri and the "Red Texas Wolf" as being found in Texas, Arkansas, and northern Mexico. Both of these forms were listed as varieties of the Gray Wolf, Canis lupus.

In 1937 Edward Goldman combined the wolves of the South central and southeastern United States into a single species which he named Canis rufus, the Red Wolf. He listed three subspecies. Canis rufus rufus for the Red Texas Wolf of Audubon and Blackman, Canis rufus floridanus for the Black Florida Wolf of Bartram and Canis rufus gregoryi for a new subspecies in the lower Mississippi valley. These names are still considered valid and are the basis for actively breeding and releasing Red Wolves under the mandate of the Endangered Species Act.

Our knowledge of the Red Wolf is derived mainly from the Texas Red Wolf, Canis rufus rufus. The other two subspecies were exterminated before field studies could be made, and apparently left behind very little evidence of their existence - only 4 specimens in museum collections from the range of these two races of wolves.

The Texas Red Wolf, on the other hand, existed in the wild until 1975. Many skull specimens were obtained for museum collections and live animals were captured for study and inclusion into the Red Wolf Recovery Program. This, the smallest of the Red Wolf subspecies, is most different in appearance from the Gray Wolf. In fact, the Texas Red Wolf so resembles the Coyote that it was difficult for biologists, to distinguish the two in the field. Of more than 400 animals captured during the initial phase of the Red Wolf Recovery Program, only 14 were determined to be pure Red Wolves rather than Coyotes or Coyote-wolf hybrids.

The rest of this webpage can be found here

wildwnc.org/natnotes/wolves.html

[another specialist]

Melanie said:

Here is an interesting fact about black colored red wolves. A red wolve with a black fur was photographed 1934 in Louisiana. But i think that it was only a rare coloring phase (similar to white tigers or black panthers) and not the distinct black wolf of Florida, because this species was neither occured in Mississippi nor in Louisiana. (the neighbor states of Florida)

Here is the foto of the black-colored red wolve from Louisiana

Nice photo Melanie

[another specialist]

www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-022-01-0001.pdf

Info on Canis rufus species and subspecies.....

[another specialist]

melanie said:

The Black Wolf once ranged over the whole of Florida, Tennessee and south Georgia. It was common in Alabama in the eighteenth century where it roamed in small packs in mountaineous areas, but 1894 it had been driven out of the big swamps near Baldwin and Mobile. In peninsular Florida the last Black Wolf was killed in 1908. In the 1910s the Black Wolf still survived in some rough hilly areas where, driven by starvation, it reputedly made a number of attacks on dometic cattle. Hunting, trapping and poisoning campaigns were rapidly increased with the inevitable results. In Colbert County in 1917 the last reported Black Wolf was shot, but this was a hyprid Black Wolf that had been from the smaller and more numerous Red Wolf.

Painting in "The Doomsday Book of Animals"

admin said:

About the Florida Black Wolf:

An image can be found in the Doomsday Book of Animals by David Day! It was illustrated by an artist named Maurice Wilson.

The Florida Black wolf was at one time classified as Canis niger, a species onto itself. The black wolf was smaller than the grey wolf (Canis lupus), but larger and stronger than the more closely related Red Wolf (Canis rufus). It was pure black and was a true swamp and forest dweller. It grew to a maximum of 150cm (5ft) in length and had a broader muzzle and longer ears than the grey wolf. However, it must be stressed that these three wolves, the grey, the black, and the red, are not differentiated primarily by colour. The black and red wolves are fairly consistently in keeping with their names, although the red wolf is, more accurately, grey-red. But the grey wolf has considerable colour variations, as the extinct New Foundland white and Cascde brown wolves once demontrated. The prime considerations for differntiation of species are in body size, shape and cranial structure. In these ways the black and red wolves differed widely enough from the grey wolf to be considered a different species. Since this is a simplification of a complex issue, it should be acknowledged that there is considerable debate about these classifications. Both black and red wolves, in some aspects of appearance, shape of skull, ears and habits, had coyote, rather than wolf-like characteristics. However, the black wolf and the red wolf were not considered sufficiently different from one another to be considered seperate species. Consequetly the black wolf became classified as part of the species Canis rufus, although because of its colour and size, it was assigned a distinct subspecies, Canis rufus floridanus.

The black wolf once ranged over whole of Florida, Tennessee, and south Georgia. It was common in Alabama in the eighteenth century where it roamed in small packs in mountainous areas, but by 1894 it has been driven out of the big swamps near Baldwin and Mobile. In peninsular Florida the last black wolf was killed in 1908. In the 1910s the black wolf still survived in some rough hilly areas where, driven by starvation, it reputedly made a number of attacks on domesticated cattle. Hunting, trapping and poisoning campaigns were rapidly increased with the inevitable results. In Colbert County in 1917 the last reported black wolf was shot, but this was a hybrid black wolf that had been bred from the smaller and more numerous red wolf.

[another specialist]

admin said:

I found a Powerpoint Presentation on the internet on extinction: www.faulkner.cc.al.us/MEER/Extinction.ppt. It includes tree images of the red wolf! One of the Texas Red Wolf that Melanie posted here, and also two others with a Black Wolf in it.


One is the Black Wolf, the other maybe the Texas Red Wolf, but I'm not sure.


This is the image of the Florida Black Wolf illustrated by an artist named Maurice Wilson. It is the image from the Doomsday Book of Animals by David Day.

[another specialist]

admin said:

Hmmm, the Florida Black wold is seen as a extinct subspecies of the Red Wolf, and before that it was seen as a seperate species! Is that your own opinion or did you find somewhere additional information.

See a previous post of me:

The Florida Black wolf was at one time classified as Canis niger, a species onto itself. The black wolf was smaller than the grey wolf (Canis lupus), but larger and stronger than the more closely related Red Wolf (Canis rufus). It was pure black and was a true swamp and forest dweller. It grew to a maximum of 150cm (5ft) in length and had a broader muzzle and longer ears than the grey wolf. However, it must be stressed that these three wolves, the grey, the black, and the red, are not differentiated primarily by colour. The black and red wolves are fairly consistently in keeping with their names, although the red wolf is, more accurately, grey-red. But the grey wolf has considerable colour variations, as the extinct New Foundland white and Cascde brown wolves once demontrated. The prime considerations for differntiation of species are in body size, shape and cranial structure. In these ways the black and red wolves differed widely enough from the grey wolf to be considered a different species. Since this is a simplification of a complex issue, it should be acknowledged that there is considerable debate about these classifications. Both black and red wolves, in some aspects of appearance, shape of skull, ears and habits, had coyote, rather than wolf-like characteristics. However, the black wolf and the red wolf were not considered sufficiently different from one another to be considered seperate species. Consequetly the black wolf became classified as part of the species Canis rufus, although because of its colour and size, it was assigned a distinct subspecies, Canis rufus floridanus.

[another specialist]

anotherspecialist said:

THE BLACK WOLF.


AT one time the Black Wolf of America was considered by naturalists to be only a variety of the common Wolf, but it is now believed to be a distinct species, not only by reason of the color of its fur but from differences of stature, the position of the eye, the peculiar bushiness of the hair and other evidence entitling it to rank as a separate species. This variety is referred to as an inhabitant of Florida, and is described as partaking of the general lupine character, being fierce, dangerous, and at the same time cowardly and pusillanimous, when they find themselves fairly enclosed. If imprisoned in even a large space, they crouch timidly in the corners, and do not venture to attack man when he enters the cage. Audubon mentions a curious instance of this strange timidity in a ferocious nature, of which he was an eye-witness: "A farmer had suffered greatly from Wolves, and determined to take revenge by means of pitfalls, of which he had dug several within easy reach of his residence. They were eight feet in depth and wider at the bottom than at the top. Into one of these traps three fine Wolves had fallen, two of them black, and the other a brindled animal. To the very great astonishment of Mr. Audubon, the farmer got into the pit, pulled out the hind legs of the Wolves, as they lay trembling at the bottom, and with his knife severed the chief tendon of the hind limbs, so as to prevent their escape. The skins of the captured animals were sufficiently valuable to reimburse the farmer for his labor and his previous losses."

The Esquimaux use traps made of large blocks of ice, constructed in the same manner as our ordinary mouse trap with a drop-door. The trap is made so narrow that the Wolf cannot turn himself, and when he is closed in by the treacherous door, he is put to death by spears.
Wood says that when Wolves and Dogs are domesticated in the same residence a mutual attachment will often spring up between them, although they naturally bear the bitterest hatred to each other. A mixed offspring is sometimes the result of this curious friendship, and it is said that these half-breed animals are more powerful and courageous than the ordinary Dog. Mr. Palliser possessed a fine animal of this kind, the father of which was a White Wolf and the mother an ordinary Indian Dog. It is a well-known fact that the Esquimaux are constantly in the habit of crossing their sledge Dogs with Wolves in order to impart strength and stamina to the breed. Indeed they are so closely related to Wolves that there can be no question that they are descended from them.

The Wolf produces from three to nine young in a litter. In January the mother Wolf begins to prepare her habitation, a task in which she is protected or assisted by her mate, who has won her in a fair fight from his many rivals. He attaches himself solely to one mate, and never leaves her till the young Wolves are able to shift for themselves. The den in which the young cubs are born is warmly lined with fur which she pulls from her own body. The cubs are born in March and remain under her protection seven or eight months. They begin to eat animal food in four weeks after birth.



The Wolf's whelp will at last a Wolf become
Though from his birth he find with man a home.
Arabian Proverb.

www.birdnature.com/jul1898/wolf.html

[another specialist]

melanie said:

Well, David Day has written that it was once considered as own species. But then there was a debate and they have insert it as a subspecies of the Red Wolf.

Generally regarded as Canis rufus floridanus making it a subspecies of the red wolf and not the grey wolf.

Will renamed thread

[another specialist]

Extinct and vanishing mammals of the western hemisphere, with the marine species of all the oceans (1942)

Author: Allen, Glover M. (Glover Morrill), 1879-1942

www.archive.org/details/extinctvanishing00allerich

[another specialist]

Extinct and vanishing mammals of the western hemisphere, with the marine species of all the oceans (1942)

Author: Allen, Glover M. (Glover Morrill), 1879-1942

www.archive.org/details/extinctvanishing00allerich

[Melanie]

Miller's scientific description:

Miller, G. S. 1912. The names of two North American wolves. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 25:95.