{"id":128253,"date":"2015-11-07T09:23:18","date_gmt":"2015-11-07T09:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/11\/07\/actuallyclintbarton-geekhyena\/"},"modified":"2018-09-04T20:55:30","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T20:55:30","slug":"actuallyclintbarton-geekhyena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/11\/07\/actuallyclintbarton-geekhyena\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-128253 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/11\/07\/actuallyclintbarton-geekhyena\/attachment\/128254\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/tumblr_nx53p1mFhj1rpdwl9o1_1280-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/tumblr_nx53p1mFhj1rpdwl9o1_1280-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/tumblr_nx53p1mFhj1rpdwl9o1_1280-100x100.png 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/11\/07\/actuallyclintbarton-geekhyena\/attachment\/128255\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/tumblr_nx53p1mFhj1rpdwl9o2_1280-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/tumblr_nx53p1mFhj1rpdwl9o2_1280-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/tumblr_nx53p1mFhj1rpdwl9o2_1280-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/actuallyclintbarton.tumblr.com\/post\/132657429107\" target=\"_blank\">actuallyclintbarton<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/geekhyena.tumblr.com\/post\/132652097025\" target=\"_blank\">geekhyena<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/thewinterotter.tumblr.com\/post\/132521801581\" target=\"_blank\">thewinterotter<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/animalsandtrees.tumblr.com\/post\/132332695475\" target=\"_blank\">animalsandtrees<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>A new species is evolving before scientists\u2019 eyes in the eastern United States.<\/p>\n<p>Wolves faced with a diminishing number of potential mates are lowering their standards and mating with other, similar species, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.economist.com\/news\/science-and-technology\/21677188-it-rare-new-animal-species-emerge-front-scientists-eyes?cid1=cust\/ednew\/n\/bl\/n\/20151029n\/owned\/n\/n\/nwl\/n\/n\/NA\/n\" target=\"_blank\">reported The Economist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>The interbreeding began up to 200 years ago, as European settlers<br \/>\npushed into southern Ontario and cleared the animal\u2019s habitat for<br \/>\nfarming and killed a large number of the wolves that lived there.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>That also allowed coyotes to spread from the prairies, and the white farmers brought dogs into the region.<\/p>\n<p>Over time, wolves began mating with their new, genetically similar neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>The resulting offspring \u2014 which has been called the eastern coyote<br \/>\nor, to some, the \u201ccoywolf\u201d \u2014 now number in the millions, according to<br \/>\nresearchers at North Carolina State University.<\/p>\n<p><b>Interspecies-bred animals are typically less vigorous than their parents<\/b>, The Economist reported \u2014 if the offspring survive at all.<\/p>\n<h2>That\u2019s not the case at all with the wolf-coyote-dog hybrid, which has developed into a sum greater than the whole of its parts.<\/h2>\n<p><b>At about 55 pounds, the hybrid animal is about twice as heavy as a<br \/>\nstandard coyote, and her large jaws, faster legs and muscular body allow her to take down small deer and even hunt moose in packs, and the animal<br \/>\n is skilled at hunting in both open terrain and dense woodland.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>An analysis of 437 hybrid animals found that coyote DNA dominates her<br \/>\n genetic makeup, with about one-tenth of its DNA from dogs, usually<br \/>\nlarger dogs such as Doberman pinschers and German shepherds, and a<br \/>\nquarter from wolves.<\/p>\n<h2><b>The animal\u2019s cry starts out as a deep-pitched wolf howl that morphs into higher-pitched yipping \u2014 like a coyote.<\/b><\/h2>\n<h2><b>Her dog DNA may carry an additional advantage.<\/b><\/h2>\n<h2>Some scientists think the hybrid animal is able to adapt to city life<br \/>\n \u2014 which neither coyotes or wolves have managed to do on their own \u2014<br \/>\nbecause her dog ancestry allows her\u00a0 to tolerate people and noise.<\/h2>\n<p>The coywolves have spread into some of the nation\u2019s largest cities \u2014<br \/>\nincluding New York, Boston and Washington \u2014 using railway corridors.<\/p>\n<p>The interbreeding allows the animal to diversify her diet and eat<br \/>\ndiscarded food, along with rodents and smaller mammals \u2014 including cats,<br \/>\n which coywolves eat skull and all \u2014 and they have evolved to become<br \/>\nnocturnal to avoid humans.<\/p>\n<p>The animals are also smart enough to learn to look both ways before crossing roads.<\/p>\n<p>Not all researchers agree the animal is a distinct species, arguing<br \/>\nthat one species does not interbreed with another \u2014 although the<br \/>\nhybrid\u2019s existence raises the question of whether wolves and coyotes are<br \/>\n distinct species in the first place.<\/p>\n<p><b>But scientists who have studied the animal say the mixing of genes<br \/>\nhas been much faster, extensive and transformational than anyone had<br \/>\nnoticed until fairly recently<\/b>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201c(This) amazing contemporary evolution story (is) happening right<br \/>\nunderneath our nose,\u201d said Roland Kays, a researcher at North Carolina<br \/>\nState.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Sd18fLEf_Cw\" target=\"_blank\">Watch this report<\/a> on coywolves.<\/p>\n<h2>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/2015\/10\/a-new-species-is-evolving-right-before-our-eyes-an-ultra-successful-mix-of-wolves-coyotes-and-dogs\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Raw Story<\/b><\/a><br \/><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>THIS SHIT IS SO WILD AND IT\u2019S ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING. If you\u2019d like to watch the entire Nature documentary referenced in that\u00a0\u201cwatch this report\u201d link, you can find the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5bwoJI6isks\" target=\"_blank\"><b>whole thing on Youtube<\/b><\/a>. It\u2019s a terrific documentary and a really interesting look at an animal most people don\u2019t even seem to realize exists. The extent to which coywolves have adapted to urban life and the ways in which they\u2019re very distinct from the species they\u2019ve sprung from is pretty incredible.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>NEEEEEAT<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The documentary (\u201dMeet the Coywolf\u201d) is also currently on Netflix and it\u2019s really interesting!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>actuallyclintbarton: geekhyena: thewinterotter: animalsandtrees: A new species is evolving before scientists\u2019 eyes in the eastern United States. Wolves faced with a diminishing number of potential mates are lowering their standards and mating with other, similar species, reported The Economist. The interbreeding began up to 200 years ago, as European settlers pushed into southern Ontario and &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/11\/07\/actuallyclintbarton-geekhyena\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[234,15093,4,346],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128253"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128256,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128253\/revisions\/128256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}