During the autumn and early winter, some wolves would turn white while others remained dark enough to look black.

[citation needed] It was described as being a medium-sized,[2] slender-skulled wolf with a white pelt, though melanists also occurred.

In comparison to its mainland relatives it bears a striking difference in its internal accessory cusp angles allowing for distinction between subspecies.

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

[4] In 1912, Gerrit S. Miller Jr have concluded that in North America, specifically west of the Mississippi River and Hudson Bay, and north of the Platte and Columbia rivers, there are three types of wolves: timber-wolf, plains-wolf, and tundra-wolf.