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Mech, L.D. and N.E. Federoff. 2002. Alpha1-antitrypsin polymorphism and systematics of eastern North American wolves. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80: 961-963.
We used data on the polymorphic status of alpha1-antitrypsin (A1AT) to study the relationship of Minnesota wolves to the gray wolf (Canis lupus), which was thought to have evolved in Eurasia, and to red wolves (Canis rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans), which putatively evolved in North America. Recent evidence had indicated that Minnesota wolves might be more closely related to red wolves and coyotes. Samples from free-ranging Minnesota wolves and captive gray wolf samples were similarly polymorphic for A1AT, whereas coyote and red wolf samples were all monomorphic. Our findings, in conjunction with earlier results, are consistent with the Minnesota wolf being a gray wolf of Eurasian origin or a hybrid between the gray wolf of Eurasian origin and the proposed North American wolf.
