How Did Gray Wolves Survive Mass Extinction from 11,700 Years Ago?

A new study that analyzed the gray wolves' ancient bones may have just revealed how these animals, also called Canis lupus, were among the largest predators to make it through, not only surviving but continuing to thrive as well, the last Ice Age mass extinction.

A ScienceAlert report said that according to the analyses of tooth and isotope, the wolves were able to quickly adjust their diet to switching prey availability, providing them with a survival edge in a fast-changing world.

By 11,700 years back, as the ice age neared its end, most of the large mammals that roamed what's presently known as the Yukon Territory in Canada had gone extinct with the herbivores that first vanished, quickly followed by the large predators that depended on them for their own survival.

According to Canada-based Carleton University paleontologist Zoe Landry, they can study the change in diet by studying wear patterns on the chemical traces and teeth in the wolf bones.

This, the paleontologist added, can tell them about how the animal had eaten and what it ate throughout its life, up until a couple of weeks before its death.

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Wolf Bones and Teeth Examined

The study entitled "Dietary reconstruction and evidence of prey shifting in Pleistocene and recent gray wolves (Canis lupus) from Yukon Territory," and published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, was based on the teeth and bones of 48 wolves.

Thirty-one of these wolves were ancient beasts that lived from 50,000 to 26,000 years ago. They were obtained from the Canadian Museum of Nature's Paleobiology Collection and the Yukon Government Paleontology Program Collection.

These specimens were compared to 17 modern wolves with skulls which had been preserved in the Canadian Museum of Nature's Zoology Collection.

How the wolves' teeth were worn revealed what they most likely ate. Scavengers depending on leftovers of other animals would have highly pitted teeth due to crunching bones. A diet of fresh flesh, on the other hand, would result in fainter scratches.

The latter-mentioned was what the researchers discovered in greater abundance, suggesting it was unlikely that the wolves needed to depend on scavenging scraps. Instead, they were able to hunt their own prey. The question of how the pray was then transpired.

Isotope Analysis

As an answer to the question then is where isotope analysis comes in. As indicated in the report, stable "isotopes are taken up into plants from the soil."

When the said plants are consumed by animals, the isotopes enter bones and teeth and stay there for the rest of the lives of the animals.

In the predators' case, like the wolves' the isotopes are obtained when the predator consumes the herbivore eaten by the plant.

There are isotope profiles, as explained in Whatisnuclear.com as the different isotope options like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen from different Pleistocene herbivorous species, collected from their bones. It is slightly akin to a fingerprint or a signature.

Gray Wolves' Survival

To date, wolves in the Yukon are surviving mainly on moose and reindeer, quite a substantial switch in diet. Referring to their findings, the researchers believe that while prey animals may have become lesser in number at the last ice age's end, the decrease and extinction of other predators may have helped wolves to open up new sources of food as old ones vanished.

Canada Museum of Nature paleontologist Danielle Fraser said that gray wolves exhibited flexibility in terms of adapting to a changing climate and a switch in habitat "from a steppe ecosystem to boreal forest."

The paleontologist added, their survival is closely associated with the survival of prey species that they could eat.

This, according to the researchers, has essential implications for today's conservation. Even though the wolves are known to be adaptable, they may not continue being such if their source of food declines without something to replace it.

Essentially, this study shows that reindeer and moose should be protected and the ecosystem they are inhabiting in the Canadian Arctic, which is presently under grave threat from climate collapse.

Related information about gray wolves is shown on Nat Geo WILD's YouTube video below: