A new subspecies of gray wolf, recently extinct, from Sicily, Italy (Carnivora, Canidae)

Abstract

AbstractA new endemic subspecies of gray wolf from the island of Sicily (Italy) is described. While usually considered extinct before 1940, there’s some evidence it may have survived up to 1970. This wolf was widespread throughout the island and characterized by a smaller size and a paler coloration than the Apennine wolf (Canis lupus italicus) from Central-Southern Italy.This subspecies is described from a mounted specimen (the holotype) including also a separate skull stored at the Museo di Storia Naturale ‘La Specola’, Università di Firenze, Italy. The three paratypes are: a) a mounted specimen stored at the ‘Museo Regionale Interdisciplinare di Terrasini’ in Terrasini (PA), Italy, b) a mounted specimen stored at the Museo di Zoologia ‘Pietro Doderlein’, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy, c) a mounted specimen stored at the ‘Museo Civico Baldassarre Romano’ in Termini Imerese (PA), Italy.This new subspecies is described as Canis lupus cristaldiisubsp. nov. We suggest ‘Sicilian wolf’ as common name for this new taxon.