Beringian wolf
| Beringian wolf | |
|---|---|
| |
| Two models of Beringian wolves created by paleo-artists working at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Genus: | Canis |
| Species: | C. lupus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Canis lupus | |
The Beringian wolf is an extinct population of wolf that lived during the Ice Age. It lived in Alaska, Yukon, and northern Wyoming. Some of these wolves survived into the Holocene. They were distinct from modern North Americans wolves and genetically basal to most modern and extinct wolves. They do not have a subspecies classification.
The Beringian wolf was similar in size to the modern Alaskan Interior wolf, or Yukon Wolf, and other gray wolves from the Late Pleistocene age. However, they were more robust, had stronger teeth and jaws, a broader palate, and larger carnassial teeth. Its strong teeth helped it hunt Pleistocene megafauna. The Beringian wolf mostly preyed on horse and steppe bison. It also preyed on caribou, mammoth, and woodland muskox.
Many of the animals that the Beringian wolf hunted became extinct near the end of the Ice Age. Cold and dry conditions were also lost. As a result, the Beringian wolf became extinct. The extinction of its prey has been thought to be caused by climate change and competition with other species. Populations of Beringian wolves were replaced by other wolves from the same species or genus.
