Editing Red wolf (section)

===== Wolf genome =====
Genetic studies relating to wolves or dogs have inferred phylogenetic relationships based on the only reference genome available, that of the [[Boxer (dog)|Boxer dog]]. In 2017, the first reference genome of the wolf ''Canis lupus lupus'' was mapped to aid future research.<ref name=gopalakrishnan2017/> In 2018, a study looked at the genomic structure and admixture of North American wolves, wolf-like canids, and coyotes using specimens from across their entire range that mapped the largest dataset of nuclear genome sequences against the wolf reference genome. The study supports the findings of previous studies that North American gray wolves and wolf-like canids were the result of complex gray wolf and coyote mixing. A [[Greenland wolf|polar wolf from Greenland]] and a coyote from Mexico represented the purest specimens. The coyotes from Alaska, California, Alabama, and Quebec show almost no wolf ancestry. Coyotes from Missouri, Illinois, and Florida exhibit 5–10% wolf ancestry. There was 40%:60% wolf to coyote ancestry in red wolves, 60%:40% in Eastern timber wolves, and 75%:25% in the Great Lakes wolves. There was 10% coyote ancestry in Mexican wolves and Atlantic Coast wolves, 5% in Pacific Coast and [[History of wolves in Yellowstone|Yellowstone wolves]], and less than 3% in Canadian archipelago wolves.<ref name=sinding2018/>

The study shows that the genomic ancestry of red, eastern timber and Great Lakes wolves were the result of admixture between modern gray wolves and modern coyotes. This was then followed by development into local populations. Individuals within each group showed consistent levels of coyote to wolf inheritance, indicating that this was the result of relatively ancient admixture. The eastern timber wolf ([[Algonquin Provincial Park]]) is genetically closely related to the Great Lakes wolf (Minnesota, Isle Royale National Park). If a third canid had been involved in the admixture of the North American wolf-like canids, then its genetic signature would have been found in coyotes and wolves, which it has not.<ref name=sinding2018/>

Gray wolves suffered a species-wide [[population bottleneck]] (reduction) approximately 25,000 YBP during the Last Glacial Maximum. This was followed by a single population of modern wolves expanding out of a [[Beringia#Refugium|Beringia refuge]] to repopulate the wolf's former range, replacing the remaining [[Megafaunal wolf|Late Pleistocene wolf]] populations across Eurasia and North America as they did so.<ref name=Loog2018/><ref name=Schweizer2020/> This implies that if the coyote and red wolf were derived from this invasion, their histories date only tens of thousands and not hundreds of thousands of years ago, which is consistent with other studies.<ref name=Schweizer2020/>

The Endangered Species Act provides protection to endangered species, but does not provide protection for endangered admixed individuals, even if these serve as reservoirs for extinct genetic variation. Researchers on both sides of the red wolf debate argue that admixed canids warrant full protection under this Act.<ref name=heppenheimer2018/><ref name=vonholdt2016/>