Genomic investigations of North American wolf-like canids in light of extensive patterns of contemporary hybridization

The main objectives of our study were to target knowledge gaps in our understanding of the genetics of eastern wolves and test two main competing hypotheses for the origins of North American Canis: (i) the two-species model which identifies grey wolves (Canis lupus) and western coyotes (Canis latrans) as distinct species that gave rise to various hybrids, including the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon), Great Lakes wolf (Canis lupus), and eastern coyote (Canis latrans var.); and (ii) the three-species model which identifies the grey wolf, western coyote and eastern wolf as distinct species.