[4] It was not formally recognized as a subspecies until 1943, when it was given its taxonomic classification by Anderson.

[5] This wolf is recognized as a subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005).

It is proposed to be the smallest of all Arctic wolf types.

[5][7][8][9] Early records and evidence suggest that the wolves in western Greenland migrated there from Baffin Island and are, thus, descendants of the Baffin Island wolf subspecies.

[8] In 1966, a study was conducted on the Baffin Island wolf, of which a preliminary assessment had been made the year before in 1965 at Wordie Bay, by the University of Toronto.