Data from: Mapping the expansion of coyotes (Canis latrans) across North and Central America

The geographic distribution of coyotes (Canis latrans) has dramatically
expanded since 1900, spreading across much of North America in a period
when most other mammal species have been declining. Although this
considerable expansion has been well documented at the state/provincial
scale, continent-wide descriptions of coyote spread have portrayed
conflicting distributions for coyotes prior to the 1900s, with popularly
referenced anecdotal accounts showing them restricted to the great plains,
and more obscure, but data-rich accounts suggesting they ranged across the
arid west. To provide a scientifically credible map of the coyote’s
historical range (10,000 – 300 BP) and describe their range expansion from
1900 to 2016, we synthesized archaeological and fossil records, museum
specimens, peer-reviewed reports, and records from wildlife management
agencies. Museum specimens confirm that coyotes have been present in the
arid west and California throughout the Holocene, well before European
colonization. Their range in the late 1800s was undistinguishable from
earlier periods, and matched the distribution of non-forest habitat in the
region. Coyote expansion began around 1900 as they moved north into taiga
forests, east into deciduous forests, west into costal temperate rain
forests, and south into tropical rainforests. Forest fragmentation and the
extirpation of larger predators probably enabled these expansions. In
addition, hybridization with wolves (C. lupus, C. lycaon, and/or C. rufus)
and/or domestic dogs has been documented in the east, and suspected in the
south. Our detailed account of the original range of coyotes and their
subsequent expansion provides the core description of a large scale
ecological experiment that can help us better understand the predator-prey
interactions, as well as evolution through hybridization.

郊狼（Canis latrans）的地理分布自1900年以来发生了显著扩张，在大多数其他哺乳动物物种数量下降的时期，其分布范围已遍及北美大部分地区。尽管这种显著扩张在州/省尺度上已有充分记录，但关于郊狼扩散的全大陆范围描述，却对20世纪前郊狼的分布呈现出相互矛盾的图景：其中广为引用的轶事记录显示它们曾局限于大平原，而那些较为鲜为人知但数据丰富的记录则表明，它们曾分布于干旱的西部地区。为提供科学可信的郊狼历史分布范围（距今10000–300年）地图，并描述其1900至2016年的扩张过程，我们综合了考古与化石记录、博物馆标本、同行评审报告以及野生动物管理机构的记录。博物馆标本证实，郊狼在整个全新世期间一直存在于干旱西部和加利福尼亚地区，远早于欧洲殖民时期。19世纪末，它们的分布范围与更早时期并无差异，且与该区域非森林栖息地的分布一致。郊狼的扩张始于1900年左右，它们向北迁入泰加林，向东进入落叶林，向西进入沿海温带雨林，向南进入热带雨林。森林破碎化以及大型捕食者的灭绝可能为这些扩张创造了条件。此外，在东部地区已记录到郊狼与狼（C. lupus、C. lycaon和/或C. rufus）及/或家犬的杂交现象，而南部地区的杂交现象则被怀疑存在。我们对郊狼原始分布范围及其后续扩张的详细记录，为一项大规模生态实验提供了核心描述，这有助于我们更好地理解捕食者-猎物间的相互作用，以及通过杂交实现的进化过程。