Subspecies of Canis lupus

In 1758, the Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus published in his Systema Naturae the binomial nomenclature – or the two-word naming – of species.

[4] Linnaeus considered the dog to be a separate species from the wolf because of its head, body, and cauda recurvata – its upturning tail – which is not found in any other canid.

Wozencraft referred to the mDNA study as one of the guides in forming his decision, and listed the 38 subspecies under the biological common name of "wolf", with the nominate subspecies being the Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus) based on the type specimen that Linnaeus studied in Sweden.

[43] In 1970, L. David Mech proposed that there was "probably far too many subspecific designations...in use", as most did not exhibit enough points of differentiation to be classified as separate subspecies.

[45] In 1995, the American mammalogist Robert M. Nowak analyzed data on the skull morphology of wolf specimens from around the world.

[1] As of 2025 the classification of the more broadly defined C. l. nubilus of Nowak (1995) synonymizes beothucus, fuscus, hudsonicus, irremotus, labridorius, manningi, mogollonensis, monstrabilis and youngi, in which case the subspecies is extant in Canada (see infobox map).

Nowak reaffirmed the morphological distinctiveness of the Italian wolf and recommended the recognition of Canis lupus italicus.

These three populations with geographic isolation exhibited a near lack of gene flow and spatially correspond to three glacial refugia.

[132] The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis lupus italicus; however, NCBI/Genbank publishes research papers under that name.

[133] The Iberian wolf was first recognised as a distinct subspecies (Canis lupus signatus) in 1907 by zoologist Ángel Cabrera.

[134][135] The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis lupus signatus; however, NCBI/Genbank does list it.

The taxonomic name of this wolf is disputed, with the species Canis himalayensis being proposed based on two limited DNA studies.

The taxonomic status of this wolf clade is disputed, with the separate species Canis indica being proposed based on two limited DNA studies.

[137][138] The proposal has not been endorsed because it relied on a limited number of museum and zoo samples that may not have been representative of the wild population, and a call for further fieldwork has been made.

The other is that it is derived from admixture between gray wolves, which inhabited the Great Lakes area and coyotes, forming a hybrid that was classified as a distinct species by mistake.

[149] The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis lycaon; however, NCBI/Genbank does list it.

[149] The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition, 2005) does not recognize Canis rufus; however, NCBI/Genbank does list it.