It’s nighttime. All is still. Suddenly, the mournful
howl of a coyote drifts through the crisp night air. This
isn’t the New Mexico desert or the 1 plains of Wyoming.
This is downtown Chicago, New York City’s Central Park,
or suburban Connecticut. Over the past several decades,
coyotes have been moving steadily eastward and showing
up in 2 unexpected places. But that’s not all that’s strange
about these eastern coyotes: They’re also bigger than their
western cousins. They live in groups and hunt in packs,
3 whereas Western coyotes are solitary and hunt alone.
The differences piqued scientists’ curiosity.
4 Now, recent genetic studies have confirmed
what many experts had suspected. The eastern “coyotes”
are actually “coy-wolves”—that is, coyote-wolf hybrids.
Different eastern coyote populations have different exact
genetic 5 compositions, which scientists have described
the average eastern coyote as being a combination of
three different species in the genus Canis. Specifically, the
animals are mostly coyote, with a sizable wolf contribution,
and a little bit of domestic dog thrown in for good measure.
These three species can produce viable, fertile offspring
because they all have 39 pairs of chromosomes. 6 Most
animals prefer to mate within their own species but
sometimes, where there are small populations and few
choices of mates, hybridization can occur. When it does,
the offspring 7 resembles something in between their two
parent species. The animals will have a new set of traits. In
many cases, these traits 8 will often turn out to be neutral
or even negative.
In the case of the eastern coyote, however, it seems
that the genetic contribution from wolves has actually
been the key to the animals’ success and expansion. 9
In the second half of the twentieth century, more of the
population moved to cities and suburbs, and fewer acres
have been needed for agriculture. Consequently, much of
the land has been slowly reverting to forest.
With ample habitat and no 10 predators, species
such as the white-tailed deer have populated the eastern
U.S. in unprecedented numbers. Western coyotes—small
and solitary hunters—are no match for even injured or
young deer. 11 Hunting in packs by the larger eastern
coyotes, the oversaturated deer population can be seriously
impacted. Evolution is a process continuing all around us,
and it doesn’t always take millions and millions of years.
As genetic tools get more sophisticated, sometimes we can
even catch it in action.
howl of a coyote drifts through the crisp night air. This
isn’t the New Mexico desert or the 1 plains of Wyoming.
This is downtown Chicago, New York City’s Central Park,
or suburban Connecticut. Over the past several decades,
coyotes have been moving steadily eastward and showing
up in 2 unexpected places. But that’s not all that’s strange
about these eastern coyotes: They’re also bigger than their
western cousins. They live in groups and hunt in packs,
3 whereas Western coyotes are solitary and hunt alone.
The differences piqued scientists’ curiosity.
4 Now, recent genetic studies have confirmed
what many experts had suspected. The eastern “coyotes”
are actually “coy-wolves”—that is, coyote-wolf hybrids.
Different eastern coyote populations have different exact
genetic 5 compositions, which scientists have described
the average eastern coyote as being a combination of
three different species in the genus Canis. Specifically, the
animals are mostly coyote, with a sizable wolf contribution,
and a little bit of domestic dog thrown in for good measure.
These three species can produce viable, fertile offspring
because they all have 39 pairs of chromosomes. 6 Most
animals prefer to mate within their own species but
sometimes, where there are small populations and few
choices of mates, hybridization can occur. When it does,
the offspring 7 resembles something in between their two
parent species. The animals will have a new set of traits. In
many cases, these traits 8 will often turn out to be neutral
or even negative.
In the case of the eastern coyote, however, it seems
that the genetic contribution from wolves has actually
been the key to the animals’ success and expansion. 9
In the second half of the twentieth century, more of the
population moved to cities and suburbs, and fewer acres
have been needed for agriculture. Consequently, much of
the land has been slowly reverting to forest.
With ample habitat and no 10 predators, species
such as the white-tailed deer have populated the eastern
U.S. in unprecedented numbers. Western coyotes—small
and solitary hunters—are no match for even injured or
young deer. 11 Hunting in packs by the larger eastern
coyotes, the oversaturated deer population can be seriously
impacted. Evolution is a process continuing all around us,
and it doesn’t always take millions and millions of years.
As genetic tools get more sophisticated, sometimes we can
even catch it in action.