Bucking the trend in wolf-dog hybridization: first evidence from europe of hybridization between female dogs and male wolves

PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e46465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046465. Epub 2012 Oct 3.

Abstract

Studies on hybridization have proved critical for understanding key evolutionary processes such as speciation and adaptation. However, from the perspective of conservation, hybridization poses a concern, as it can threaten the integrity and fitness of many wild species, including canids. As a result of habitat fragmentation and extensive hunting pressure, gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations have declined dramatically in Europe and elsewhere during recent centuries. Small and fragmented populations have persisted, but often only in the presence of large numbers of dogs, which increase the potential for hybridization and introgression to deleteriously affect wolf populations. Here, we demonstrate hybridization between wolf and dog populations in Estonia and Latvia, and the role of both genders in the hybridization process, using combined analysis of maternal, paternal and biparental genetic markers. Eight animals exhibiting unusual external characteristics for wolves - six from Estonia and two from Latvia - proved to be wolf-dog hybrids. However, one of the hybridization events was extraordinary. Previous field observations and genetic studies have indicated that mating between wolves and dogs is sexually asymmetrical, occurring predominantly between female wolves and male dogs. While this was also the case among the Estonian hybrids, our data revealed the existence of dog mitochondrial genomes in the Latvian hybrids and, together with Y chromosome and autosomal microsatellite data, thus provided the first evidence from Europe of mating between male wolves and female dogs. We discuss patterns of sexual asymmetry in wolf-dog hybridization.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • DNA, Satellite / genetics
  • Dogs / physiology*
  • Female
  • Genetic Variation
  • Hybridization, Genetic*
  • Male
  • Microsatellite Repeats / genetics
  • Phylogeny
  • Wolves / physiology*

Substances

  • DNA, Satellite

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Environmental Investment Centre, the Estonian Ministry of Education and Sciences (target financing project SF0180122s08), the Estonian Science Foundation (grant 7040) and from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence FIBIR), and from the Estonian Doctoral School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. These funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. AK is employed by Wildlife Park Kadzidlowo and, therefore, Wildlife Park Kadzidlowo played a role in the data collection and analysis of the manuscript.