Editing Subspecies of Canis lupus (section)

====Italian wolf====
{{Further|Italian wolf}}
The [[Italian wolf]] (or Apennine wolf) was first recognised as a distinct subspecies (''Canis lupus italicus'') in 1921 by zoologist Giuseppe Altobello.<ref name="altobello1921">{{in lang|it}} Altobello, G. (1921), ''[http://www.storiadellafauna.it/scaffale/testi/alto/Carnivo.htm Fauna dell'Abruzzo e del Molise. Mammiferi. IV. I Carnivori (Carnivora)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504133849/http://www.storiadellafauna.it/scaffale/testi/alto/Carnivo.htm |date=2016-05-04 }}'', Colitti e Figlio, Campobasso, pp. 38-45</ref>  Altobello's classification was later rejected by several authors, including [[Reginald Innes Pocock]], who [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonymised]] ''C. l. italicus'' with ''C. l. lupus''.<ref name="nowak2002">{{cite journal | last1 = Nowak | first1 = R. M. | last2 = Federoff | first2 = N. E. | year = 2002 | title = The systematic status of the Italian wolf Canis lupus | journal = Acta Theriologica | volume = 47 | issue = #3| pages = 333–338 | doi=10.1007/bf03194151| bibcode = 2002AcTh...47..333N | s2cid = 366077 }}</ref> In 2002, the noted paleontologist R.M. Nowak reaffirmed the morphological distinctiveness of the Italian wolf and recommended the recognition of ''Canis lupus italicus''.<ref name="nowak2002"/> A number of DNA studies have found the Italian wolf to be genetically distinct.<ref name="wayne1992">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1992.06040559.x| title = Mitochondrial DNA Variability of the Gray Wolf: Genetic Consequences of Population Decline and Habitat Fragmentation| journal = Conservation Biology| volume = 6| issue = #4| pages = 559–569| year = 1992| last1 = Wayne | first1 = R. K. | last2 = Lehman | first2 = N. | last3 = Allard | first3 = M. W. | last4 = Honeycutt | first4 = R. L. | bibcode = 1992ConBi...6..559W}}</ref><ref name="randi2000">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.98280.x| title = Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Italian and East European Wolves: Detecting the Consequences of Small Population Size and Hybridization| journal = Conservation Biology| volume = 14| issue = #2| pages = 464–473| year = 2000| last1 = Randi | first1 = E. | last2 = Lucchini | first2 = V. | last3 = Christensen | first3 = M. F. | last4 = Mucci | first4 = N. | last5 = Funk | first5 = S. M. | last6 = Dolf | first6 = G. | last7 = Loeschcke | first7 = V. | bibcode = 2000ConBi..14..464R| s2cid = 86614655}}</ref> In 2004, the genetic distinction of the Italian wolf subspecies was supported by analysis which consistently assigned all the wolf [[genotype]]s of a sample in [[Italy]] to a single group. This population also showed a unique [[mitochondrial DNA]] control-region [[haplotype]], the absence of private [[alleles]] and lower [[Heterozygous|heterozygosity]] at microsatellite [[Locus (genetics)|loci]], as compared to other wolf populations.<ref>V. LUCCHINI, A. GALOV and E. RANDI'' Evidence of genetic distinction and long-term population decline in wolves (Canis lupus) in the Italian Apennines''. Molecular Ecology (2004) 13, 523–536. [https://archive.today/20120604094904/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118794860/abstract abstract online]</ref> In 2010, a genetic analysis indicated that a single wolf haplotype (w22) unique to the Apennine Peninsula and one of the two haplotypes (w24, w25), unique to the Iberian Peninsula, belonged to the same haplogroup as the prehistoric wolves of Europe. Another haplotype (w10) was found to be common to the Iberian peninsula and the Balkans. These three populations with geographic isolation exhibited a near lack of gene flow and spatially correspond to three glacial refugia.<ref name=pilot2010/>

The taxonomic reference ''[[Mammal Species of the World]]'' (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize ''Canis lupus italicus''; however, [[National Center for Biotechnology Information|NCBI]]/[[Genbank]] publishes research papers under that name.<ref>{{cite web|title=NCBI search Canis lupus italicus|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=canis+lupus+italicus}}</ref>