Gray wolves ( canis lupus ) are large predators that have survived extinction at the end of the last Ice Age (about eleven thousand years ago). In fact, today they can be found roaming the boreal forest and tundra of Yukon (Alaska). In addition, in their natural habitat they feed mainly on elk and caribou.
Investigation Development
A study by the Canadian Museum of Nature has concluded that wolves could have survived by adapting their diet for thousands of years, from the beginning (when they fed mainly on horses in the Pleistocene) to the present day when they eat elk and caribou. Likewise, the research results have been published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
The research team analyzed the remains that were preserved in the teeth and bones of ancient gray wolves (50,000 years ago) and modern ones. Thus, they were able to study the change in diet by examining wear patterns on the teeth and chemical traces on the bones of gray wolves.
The results concluded that horses represented approximately 50% of their diet during the Pleistocene. They also fed on caribou, sheep and mammoths, although they only symbolized 15% of their diet. All this at a time when wolves coexisted with other large predators, such as short-faced bears ( arctodus ) or scimitar-toothed cats ( homotherini ).
Implications for wolf conservation
Grant Zazula, a paleontologist for the Yukon Government, sees this as a story of adaptation and survival to the Ice Age. In addition, as the researcher maintains, these findings contribute to the conservation of gray wolves today, as they have proven to be flexible animals that easily adapt to changing climates and different ecosystems. Thus, their survival is closely related to the survival of the prey on which they can feed.
On the other hand, given the dependence of modern gray wolves on caribou (reindeer from the cold regions of North America) the authors of the study consider that it is essential to preserve this species to maintain a healthy wolf population.
