Canis lupus

This is what scientists recognize as the wolf. The "main" wolf, the gray wolf.

## Name

*See also: Wolves*

*Canis lupus* were recognized by Carl Linnaeus in his book Systems of Nature as *Canis lupus*, meaning that it's scientific name has not changed since its first inception. "Canis" means "dog" in Latin and "lupus" means "wolf".

Today Canis lupus is most often called the gray wolf, but that name is becoming outdated as well. Since wolves come in many color variations and people are becoming more aware of this, people tend to limit their usage of calling them gray wolves. Wolves of various species are sometimes called their subspecies name, unlike other animals, in part due to this reason. It's easier to call a northern white wolf an Arctic Wolf or a Brownish-black southern wolf a Mexican wolf because they aren't really all that gray.

In the past they were more often known as the Timber Wolves. However, with the knowledge that they don't always live in forests and also live in habitats such as deserts, shrublands, grasslands, and the arctic, the idea of them living exclusively in timbered regions has seemed more of a misconception. Additionally the word "timber" has evolved into more of a logger's and carpenter's jargon, as well as just a funny and cute word kid's get to shout when a tree (or something pretended to be a tree) falls. Since it's no longer a common word that evokes forests, the name has become more rare. However, a different wolf species, Canis lycaon, was recently distinguished from Canis lupus through genetic and behavioral data. Since its adapted to the heavy woodlands for which the word timber wolf evokes, the word is sometimes used for this wolf now.

Canis lupus has numerous local and known ancient names. For more information on local wolf names, check the subspecies' page.

## Impact on Humans

Wolves are featured in mythology from around the world. They leave a huge impression on people, most likely due to their interesting looks, howling, and required interactions as large predators amongst humans and livestock. Most modern humans are descended in some way from ancestors who brought wolves into their lives to become dogs. When people look at wolves they may feel some sort of awe or connection that they don't feel for other animals. Or even fear. This inherent connection attaches to wolves and dogs instinctively. There are permanent results left on the humans as a result of this symbiotic relationship. We domesticated each other, and various parts of our physiology and psyche has shifted to a domesticated form over our tougher, wilder ones. Additionally our frontal lobes have grown larger. Humans also seem to instinctively (though erroneously) know that a tail wag means happiness. Thus the bond between humans and wolves is one of the most important ones in human history, as we both changed our species for each other.

However, just because wolves have a huge impact on humanity doesn't mean that all societies had wolves, or even knew that they existed. Some were even unaware of dogs. Some cultures had wolves as their most important god. Others had wolves as one of their strongest fears, the most fearsome predator and monster around. Others had them in a middle role, or barely noticed them at all. Others just saw them as wild animals that lived nearby, or in a foreign country. Human's interactions with wolves vary from person to person. The hunter to the hunted, to the naturalist to the storyteller. To the conservationist to the shepherd protecting their flock. From beloved to feared to ignored. But the differences between how we thought of wolves wasn't just central to the culture, it was also based on their knowledge of who wolves are. How the wolves interacted with them, their habits. Those were often are narrowed down into localities. Nowadays, local understandings still count, but media is so large and wolves are so rare that its often more about what information has been passed through the language and in books, television, video games, the internet, newspapers, and other forms of media.

Sometimes, mythology is also based on knowledge from times passed, such as how the United States folklore fears wolves as man-and-sheep eaters, having brought their knowledge of the more aggressive European wolves overseas. This doesn't match the personality of the wolves from North America. Moving and migration of humans brings old tales of wolves with them, and though the image may change with time and experience with local populations of wolves, it also might not change so much. It is up to the people to understand the wolves of their world and understand them accordingly. Additionally wolves have changed since times past. The changing human world and habits has forced wolves to act in many different ways, and it's up to us to understand the differences between the wolves of the past and the wolves of the new world.

## Biology

Wolves are a member of Carnivora, meaning that they are very distantly related from other animals such as bears, seals, weasels, cats, and skunks. While wolves will have a variable diet depending on location their digestive tract is heavily based on meat. Grasses, weeds, pinecones, twigs, and berries may be consumed out of boredom, as a small part of their diet, or medicinally. They also consume the digested food, faeces, urine, ova, and semen of their prey.

Wolves come in many different colors, depending on the subspecies. In the north they may be completely white all year round, or have a phase from a dark brown or black in spring and summer to white in winter. Fully black wolves have dogs as ancestors, as the gene for a black coat without underside countershading and facial markings originated from dogs. Black wolves are more common in North America than anywhere else. Most wolves are gray with brown and/or black agouti with countershading and facial markings. For this reason Canis lupus was commonly called the gray wolf.

According to Wikipedia, there are 38 living subspecies and 14 recorded extinct subspecies. However, scientists seem to have been conflicted about the kinds of wolves there are. Are there two species of wolves, one being a coyowolf hybrid? Are there many subspecies of wolves, and only a few "ecomorphs" of those? Due to changes in science and continual internal conflict over the issue, sources are hard to find. While I initially had built this wiki to be based on subspecies, it seems that due to scientist's refusal to have an agreed consensus and willingness to be frank with the public on this matter, I've decided to list wolf mythology based on current geography. It's not my preferred method, as geography shifts and changes, and geography can be debatable in some respects- for example, do I include a sovereign indigenous land as an independant country? Or do I put it into the United States? The common approach would be the former, the uncommon approach would be to include them. But those lands are ethnicity based and have been moved back and forth, thus inferring that their understanding of the animal is, well, genetically impure. If a wolf occured on their native land and not the next, then the memory will be of both Western portrayals and experiences of the past. But to invoke the present subspecies with old thoughts, while a normal occurence for people who've moved or migrated, does mean that I'm not speaking to clearly about either one unless hard analysis could show otherwise through variable differences in body and behavior between the two subspecies. So I've decided to categorize them by countries, and the various people within, while still trying to maintain their independent cultures as well as possible.

Here is a list of the subspecies as listed on Wikipedia. Some subspecies are also naturalized wolfdogs, coywolves, or (if extinct) may have outright been coyote or dog subspecies, or outright a different kind of canis.

* Canis lupus lupus - Eurasian Wolf. Considered the nominate species in science despite the fact their many physical and personality differences from North American wolves, which are what most people imagine and more featured in the media.
* Canis lupus albus - Tundra Wolf. Eurasian version of the Arctic Wolf.
* Canis lupus alces †
* Canis lupus arctos - Arctic Wolf. North American version of the Tundra Wolf.
* Canis lupus arabs - Arabian Wolf.
* Canis lupus baileyi
* Canis lupus beothucus †
* Canis lupus bernardi †
* Canis lupus campestris
* Canis lupus chanco
* Canis lupus columbianus
* Canis lupus crassodon
* Canis lupus cristaldii † - Sicilian Wolf.
* Canis lupus dingo
* Canis lupus familiarus
* Canis lupus floridanus †
* Canis lupus filchneri
* Canis lupus fuscus †
* Canis lupus gregoryi †
* Canis lupus griseoalbus †
* Canis lupus hattai † - Hokkaidou Wolf
* Canis lupus hodophilax †
* Canis lupus hudsonicus
* Canis lupus irremotus
* Canis lupus labradorius
* Canis lupus ligoni
* Canis lupus lycaon - Great Lakes Coywolf
* Canis lupus mackenzii
* Canis lupus manningi
* Canis lupus mogollonensis †
* Canis lupus monstrabilis †
* Canis lupus nubilis †
* Canis lupus occidentalis
* Canis lupus orion
* Canis lupus pallipes
* Canis lupus pambasileus
* Canis lupus rufus - Swamp Coywolf or Red Wolf.
* Canis lupus tundrarum
* Canis lupus youngi †

## Media

*Spoilers!*

**Animation:**

*Beastars -* Gray wolf anthro Legoshi is the protagonist. He is a predator species in a world where predators and herbivores live together in the same society somewhat uneasily. As his childhood protections fall away and Legoshi learns about the huge black market selling meat, Legoshi becomes a dedicated vegetarian. He has a somewhat defied romance with a rabbit in the Netflix series. This is a reference to the wolf and the rabbit being symbols of carnivores and herbivores respectively.

Legoshi noticeably doesn't have a mane. This could be a mistake on the author's part, artistic interpretation him, or making him on of the wolf subspecies that don't have a main during warmer seasons.

*Wolf's Rain -* Perhaps the start of the anti-villainous wolf phase, Wolf's Rain still portrayed wolves quite violently, even killing humans. The show features a group of wolves living during the apocalypse who come together to form a pack that searches a place called Paradise. The werewolf trope is subverted in this show, as the wolves project human illusions instead. Features of wolf mythology and history are hidden in the subtext of this show.

Helluva Boss - A naturally occuring species of Hell is the Hellhounds. They look like all sorts of dogs, and that includes wolves. Loona is a main character who is based off of a wolf. She is a fierce fighter that works for imp and when not chilling on her phone, is growling or yelling at whoever talks to her. She has a crush on an episode-of-the-day character, who also resembles a brown wolf or wolf-like dog. Loona herself can seem like a white wolf to those who first look at her, especially with her hellish, albino red eyes, but actually she has a narrow gray top, making her a gray wolf.

**Video Games:**

*Bendy and the Ink Machine -* Wolf characters are presented as major characters in this series. As is the nature of Bendy and The Ink Machine, multiple characters are presented as different copies of the same one-- Boris the Wolf. They are anthropomorphic and based off of the old style of American black-and-white cartoons. As such they aren't very wolf like. They even have bent dog ears. However, they are gluttonous, though in a twist, not villainous. In the canon within canon Boris proper isn't very friendly, acting like a bad friend to protagonist Bendy. However in the rest of the series they have their own personalities by individual, though food is brought up.

A female humanoid character named Alice Angel is a serial killer and mad scientist that targets Borises. She harvests their organs, especially their hearts, and uses them in various ways (including eating them) in an attempt to remake her beauty. This is a subversion of the "wolf whistle" trope in which wolves are depicted as highly sexual "dogs", men who target women for sex and may harm them to get their way. Instead she's the one pursuing these men and taking what she wants from them, including by eating their heart out. It is also a subversion of the violent wolf. One Boris is noticeably non-violent and cowardly. He is featured both in the main game and stars in his own game, *The Dark Survival.*

In fanon Boris is portrayed as friendly and more honest in contrast to fanon Bendy's trickster, wise guy self.

## References

1. ↑ https://archive.org/details/carolilinnisys00linn/page/39/mode/2up
2. ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/canis
3. ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lupus#Etymology\_4
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subspecies\_of\_Canis\_lupus