Species: Canis latrans
Coyote
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Carnivora
Family
Canidae
Genus
Canis
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Coyote - coyote
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Carnivores
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Carnivora - Canidae - Canis - ) genes are incorporated into the coyote gene pool in the southeastern U.S. due to extensive hybridization. Genetic transfer of coyote mitochondrial DNA into wolf populations has occurred through hybridization in a contiguous geographic region in Minnesota, Ontario, and Quebec; the frequency of coyote-type mtDNA in these wolf populations is greater than 50%; no coyotes sampled had a wolf-derived mtDNA genotype; probably hybridization is occurring between male wolves and female coyotes in regions where coyotes only recently have become abundant following conversion of forests to farmlands (Lehman et al. 1991).
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - false - false - >
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
An opportunistic feeder; mainly carrion (including prey killed by other carnivores), small vertebrates, and invertebrates. Occasionally feeds on vegetation.
Reproduction Comments
Mates in late winter. Gestation lasts 60-65 days. Litter size averages 4-7 in different areas. Young are born March-May. Both parents tend young. Family leaves den when young 8-10 weeks old. Young are on their own by late fall. Sexually mature in 1-2 years. Interbreeds freely with domestic dog.
Ecology Comments
Population density generally is around 0.2-1.0 per sq km, though seasonally higher densities have been recorded in Texas. (Knowlton 1972). Most of the population usually is less than 3 years old. <br><br>In the north, populations may increase when wolf population is low, decrease when wolf population increases. <br><br>In Texas, "interactions between social organization and food availability were implicated in regulation of [a]...lightly exploited high-density population" (Windberg 1995). <br><br>In the prairie pothole region, the presence of low numbers of coyotes may benefit ducks by excluding the more destructive red fox (NBS news release, 29 June 1994).
Length
132
Weight
18100
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-15
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-15
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
Originally ranged throughout western and central North America, perhaps with only widely scattered populations in the southeastern U.S. Range expanded into eastern U.S. with opening of forest and extermination of wolf. Range has also expanded north to northern Alaska and south to Costa Rica. Introduced in Florida and Georgia. (Wozencraft, in Wilson and Reeder 1993).