# Sicilian wolf

The Sicilian wolf (Sicilian: lupu sicilianu; Canis lupus cristaldii) is an extinct subspecies of the gray wolf that was endemic to Sicily. It was smaller than the mainland Italian wolf and had paler fur.
The subspecies reportedly went extinct due to human persecution in the 1920s, though there were several possible sightings up to the 1970s.
It was identified as a distinct subspecies in 2018 through morphological examinations of the few remaining mounted specimens and skulls, as well as mtDNA analyses.

## Etymology

Its trinomial name is in honor of Italian mammologist Mauro Cristaldi.
In Sicilian, the male is referred to as lupu, the female lupa and a pup as lupacchiu or lupacchiolu, while the terms lupazzu and lupiceddu are respectively a pejorative and a diminutive.

## Description

The Sicilian wolf was a slender, short-legged subspecies with light, tawny coloured fur. The dark band present on the forelimbs of the mainland Italian wolf are absent or poorly defined in the Sicilian wolf. Measurements taken from mounted museum specimens show that adults had a mean head to body length of 105.4 cm and a shoulder height of 54.6 cm, thus making them slightly smaller than the mainland Italian wolf, which measures 105.8-109.1 cm long and 65–66.9 cm high at the shoulder.
According to Francesco Minà Palumbo, the Sicilian wolf typically lived alone or in pairs in mountainous valley areas. It didn't dig its own dens, and primarily hunted during evening hours, unless hunger compelled it to hunt by day. In such cases, it would enter inhabited areas, despite fearing humans. Palumbo further described it as not particularly cunning, but ferocious when defending itself.

## History

The Sicilian wolf likely entered Sicily via a land bridge that formed 21,500-20,000 years ago. Its range encompassed all of Sicily, particularly Palermo, the woods surrounding Mount Etna, the Peloritani, the Nebrodi, the Madonie, the Monti Sicani and Ficuzza. It also occurred in the Erean and Hyblaean Mountains.
The Sicilian wolf's decline likely began during the late Norman period, when its ungulate prey went extinct. During the 19th century, wolves were hunted for bounties: under article 26 of the royal hunting regulations, male wolves were worth five ducats, females six and pups three. This was only suspended at the end of the century. Furthermore, Palumbo wrote of some specimens sporting whitish or almost black coats, with floppy ears, woolly fur and upturned tails, traits which he hypothesised were the result of wolf-dog hybridisation. Nevertheless, it was still considered "by no means rare" in Catania and "very common" in Messina and Syracuse during the late 1890s.
The subspecies went extinct during the 20th century, but the exact date is unknown. It is generally thought that the last wolf was killed in 1924 near Bellolampo, though there are reports of further kills between 1935 and 1938, all in the vicinity of Palermo. Several sightings are also reported between 1960 and 1970.

### Classification

In 2018, an examination of the holotype – a mounted specimen and its skull stored at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze – and three others confirmed the morphological distinctiveness of the Sicilian wolf, and an examination of the mtDNA extracted from the teeth of several skulls showed that the subspecies possessed a unique haplotype, distinct from that of the Italian wolf.
In 2019, an mDNA study indicated that the Sicilian wolf and the Italian wolf were closely related and formed an "Italian clade" that was basal to all other modern wolves except for the Himalayan wolf and the now-extinct Japanese wolf. The study indicates that a genetic divergence occurred between the two lineages 13,400 years ago. This timing is compatible with the existence of the latest land bridge between Sicily and southwestern tip of Italy, which flooded at the end of the Late Pleistocene to form the Messina Strait.
Another study in 2019 confirmed that this wolf was genetically related to extant Italian and Late Pleistocene wolves. One specimen in particular possessed a "wolf-like" mtDNA haplotype not detected before.

## Cultural significance

According to Angelo De Gubernatis, superstitions about wolves were common in nineteenth-century Sicily. It was believed that the head of a wolf increased the courage of those who wore it, while in Agrigento children wore wolf skin shoes to grow up strong and pugnacious.