Studies of wolf x coyote hybridization via artificial insemination
Following the production of western gray wolf ( Canis lupus ) x western coyote ( Canis latrans ) hybrids via artificial insemination (AI), the present article documents that the hybrids survived in captivity for at least 4 years and successfully bred with each other. It further reports that backcrossing one of the hybrids to a male gray wolf by AI also resulted in the birth of live pups that have survived for at least 10 months. All male hybrids (F 1 and F 2 ) produced sperm by about 10 months of age, and sperm quality of the F 1 males fell within the fertile range for domestic dogs, but sperm motility and morphology, in particular, were low in F 2 males at 10 months but improved in samples taken at 22 months of age. These studies are relevant to a long-standing controversy about the identity of the red wolf ( Canis rufus ), the existence of a proposed new species ( Canis lycaon ) of gray wolf, and to the role of hybridization in mammalian evolution.