Bernard's wolf

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Bernard's wolf

Extinct (early 1900s) (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species:
C. lupus
Subspecies:
C. l. bernardi
Trinomial name
Canis lupus bernardi
Anderson, 1943
Historical and present range of gray wolf subspecies in North America
Synonyms[1]
  • Canis lupus banksianus (Anderson, 1943)

Bernard's wolf (Canis lupus bernardi), also known as the Banks Island wolf or the Banks Island tundra wolf,

Victoria Island of the Arctic Archipelago.[3]

Taxonomy

It is recognized as a subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority

National Museum of Canada.[3][5] There were very few specimens of the subspecies that were recovered, around three[6] or four[3]
in total.

Description

The wolf was described as "white with black-tipped hair along the ridge of the back". It is a large rangy wolf, with long narrow skull, slender rostrum and extremely large upper and lower carnassials.[7]

Extinction

A survey was conducted in March 1993 by the Department of Renewable Resources that was to catalog the wolf and

indigenous animal species, not a single wolf was found. The Victoria Island population is believed to have become extinct between 1918 and 1952,[8] with one source proposing around 1920.[3]

References