page_title: Himalayan wolf
section_title: Phylogeography
hierarchical_section_title: Himalayan wolf / Phylogeography
caption_attribution_description: English: ZOOLOGICAL PARK IN DARJEELING,KOLKATA
context_page_description: The Himalayan wolf is a canine of debated taxonomy. It is distinguished by its genetic markers, with mitochondrial DNA indicating that it is genetically basal to the Holarctic grey wolf, genetically the same wolf as the Tibetan wolf, and has an association with the African golden wolf. There are no striking morphological differences between the wolves from the Himalayas and those from Tibet. The Himalayan wolf lineage can be found living in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau predominantly above 4,000 metres in elevation because it has adapted to a low oxygen environment, compared with other wolves that are found only at lower elevations.
  Some authors have proposed the reclassification of this lineage as a separate species. In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group noted that the Himalayan wolf's distribution included the Himalayan range and the Tibetan Plateau. The group recommends that this wolf lineage be known as the "Himalayan wolf" and classified as Canis lupus chanco until a genetic analysis of the holotypes is available. The Himalayan wolf lacks a proper morphological analysis.
context_section_description: The  mitochondrial DNA of 27 wolves from the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau was compared in 2004. Results indicate that five related haplotypes formed a clade that is basal to all other wolves. This clade included one sample from Ladakh, nine from the Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh, four from Nepal, and two from Tibet. The Himalayan wolf clade diverged from other canids 800,000 years ago. Seven wolves from Kashmir did not fall into this clade.
  The mtDNA of 18 captive wolves in the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park was analysed in 2007. Results showed that they shared a common female ancestor.
  As this study was based on captive-bred zoo specimens that had descended from only two females, these samples were not considered to be representative. Additionally, the wolf population in the Kashmir valley is known to have recently arrived in that area. Subsequent genetic research showed that wolf samples from Tibet are genetically basal to the Holarctic gray wolf. Its MT-ND4L gene commences with the base pairs GTG, whereas all other canids commence with ATG. Results of whole genome sequencing showed that it is the most genetically divergent wolf.
  Analysis of scat samples from two wolves collected in upper Dolpo matched the Himalayan wolf. Fecal remains of four wolves collected in the upper Mustang region of the Annapurna Conservation Area also fell within the Himalayan wolf clade but formed a separate haplotype to those previously studied.
  The Himalayan wolf population in Tibet declined over the past 25,000 years and suffered a historical population bottleneck. Glaciation during the Last Glacial Maximum may have caused habitat loss, genetic isolation and ancient inbreeding. On the other hand, the population in Qinghai had grown, showing a gene flow of 16% from Chinese indigenous dogs and 2% of the dingo's genome. It probably recolonised the Tibetan Plateau.
  The Himalayan wolf contrasts with the wolves living at lower elevations in Inner Mongolia, Mongolia, and Xinjiang province. Some wolves in China and Mongolia also fall within the Himalayan wolf clade, indicating a common maternal ancestor and a wide distribution. There was evidence of hybridization with the grey wolf at Sachyat-Ertash in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan, and of introgression from either the grey wolf or the dog into the Himalayan wolf in Nepal.
  A genomic study on the wolves of China included museum specimens of wolves from southern China that were collected between 1963 and 1988. The wolves in the study formed 3 clades: north Asian wolves that included those from northern China and eastern Russia, wolves from the Tibetan Plateau, and a unique population from southern China. One specimen located as far southeast as Jiangxi province shows evidence of being admixed between Tibetan-related wolves and other wolves in China.
  DNA sequences can be mapped to reveal a phylogenetic tree that represents evolutionary relationships, with each branch point representing the divergence of two lineages from a common ancestor. On this tree the term “basal” is used to describe a lineage that forms a branch diverging nearest to the common ancestor.
caption: Wolves in the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling
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