Content
- anatomy of wolves
- wolf feeding
- wolves reproduction
- wolf personality
- Other characteristics of the wolf
The wolf, whose scientific name is kennels lupus, is a carnivore belonging to the family of canids. As we already know, this is a wild animal which, it is believed, gave rise to the current domestic dogs. However, the behavior and myriad of characteristics of these dogs can differ significantly from those of wolves.
There are different subspecies of wolves, including the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus), which is protected in some countries, such as Spain, by its population decline due to indiscriminate hunting, roadkill, etc. That's why it's important to get to know these large and important mammals better and learn more about them. In this article by PeritoAnimal, you can know some wolf characteristics which can be very interesting in terms of anatomy, nutrition, reproduction and personality. Good reading.
anatomy of wolves
As mentioned, there are numerous subspecies or types of wolf, which can have different sizes and characteristics. However, the vast majority usually measures between 1 and 2 meters in length from snout to tail, weighing between 30 and 60 kilograms and having a height of approximately 80 centimeters from the ground to the withers of the animal.
In relation to the skeleton, musculature and other anatomical parts, it is true that the wolf is practically the same as the domestic dog, as it has a long spine, 13 pairs of ribs, four walking legs and a set of teeth with strong canines, between others. You can check out 15 dog breeds that look like wolves in this article. However, some differences should be highlighted. Among the characteristics of a wolf compared to a dog are:
- Larger skull size.
- Ears normally oval.
- A more powerful musculature that allows you to reach great speeds.
- Bigger teeth for tearing big fangs.
- Longer snouts.
- Some forelegs are a little longer than the hindquarters, making your movements faster.
- Some pads for the feet are thicker, as they support their weight on the toes during movement (digitigrade).
To all this are added other characteristics of the wolf that make it an amazing and intimidating animal, such as its peculiar look, in which coloring predominates. brown, yellowish or orange.
Regarding the coat, they can be differentiated two layers: an inner one with a soft touch whose function is to protect the animal from the ambient temperature and a harder outer one whose function is to protect it from other external factors, such as rain. The latter adopts different colors depending on what subspecies of wolf it is and where it lives. Thus, there may be wolves with a gray, white, black, brown, reddish coat or a combination of these shades. In colder places, the amount of hair will be greater and in warmer places it will be found in lesser abundance, giving the carnivore a thinner appearance.
wolf feeding
It is mainly an animal carnivore, so in nature it is common to see it feeding on other smaller animals or even some with larger sizes. However, depending on where they live and the resources available for their food, they too you can eat some vegetables. Wolves are not as voracious as other wild animals and can consume between 1 and 3 kilograms of meat per day, depending on the size of the wolf and the needs of the pack. Between the usual foods we can highlight:
- Serpents and other reptiles
- rabbits
- rodents
- birds
- goats
- sheep
- pigs
- deer
wolves reproduction
Among the characteristics of wolves that get a lot of attention is that of the leadership of a group. Within a wolf pack, which is usually made up of 7 to 20 individuals, mating occurs only. between alpha male and beta female once a year. After a gestation period of approximately 60 days, the puppies are born in litters of 5 to 12 individuals, normally forming the pack.
The rest of young males do not reproduce, except in cases where the alpha male cannot mate or when they abandon the pack to form their own, as occurs in other species of wild animals. In case they do not leave and continue in the pack, they will play protection and cooperation functions in the search for food.
wolf personality
Although wolves appear to be cold and aggressive, another characteristic of wolves is that they are very sly and familiar that normally live in packs of varying sizes.Like other wild species, such as the lion, within the pack there is a leader. Among wolves, the leader is known as the alpha male, who is usually the one to breed with the beta female to form the pack of his own offspring. In addition to his mating privilege, the alpha male also has great family instincts, as it takes care of the puppies, participates in the search for food for the survival of the pack and protects everyone else.
Fits highlight yourintelligence, related to the large size of their brains and that they demonstrate when carrying out hunting plans that they are very successful. Wolves also have the intellectual ability to communicate with each other. While there are several hypotheses about the howl of wolves, one of the most important is its use to communicate. Thus, they can announce the arrival of a threat, express states or emotions, and indicate locations, etc.
All this combined with your great socialization ability allowed the wolf to live with man for years, giving rise to its domestication and the consequent appearance of the current domestic dog.
However, one must keep in mind that the wolf is a wild animal and therefore should be treated as such. We won't be able to know what their emotions, sensations, and instincts are at any given time, so if we're ever close to this species in nature, it's best not to disturb its space. The personality of animals is something that it can never be fully understood. However, thanks to studies carried out by ethologists, we can have more and more knowledge about the behavior of these wonderful living beings.
If you want to know more about wolves, discover the types of wolves and their characteristics.
Other characteristics of the wolf
Now that you know some of the most important characteristics of wolves, we highlight a few others:
- Wolves have a great smell and hearing, which allows them to search for their prey and enables communication between them. They also have good eyesight, allowing you to successfully hunt at night.
- Are very territorial and they delimit their space by marking with urine, feces or impregnating the land with their scent. For this, they have scent glands, among which those located at the base of two tails stand out.
- Your long tails allow them to maintain body balance when moving.
- Not all wolves live in packs, as there are cases where can live alone. In these situations, hunting becomes more difficult and they have to make do with smaller prey.
- get into fights whether other individuals who do not belong to your pack occupy their territories, which may extend over hundreds of square kilometers.
- THE Life expectancy of wolves usually is between 8 and 15 years old. In freedom, it can be reduced due to human actions (hunting, deforestation, etc.) or the disappearance of its habitat.
- They practically adapt to any type of habitat. Therefore, we can find them practically in almost any place in the world where there is an abundance of food.
After knowing the main characteristics of the wolf and knowing that they originated and still have many similarities with domestic dogs, this video about the Czechoslovakian wolf dog, a rare breed in Brazil, might interest you: