Introduction to Wolf Ethology

Which animal is genetically closer to a wolf?

Genetics 101:

When studying genetics, the most important information to learn is the two types of DNA found in animals, Nuclear (nDNA) and mitochondrial (mtDNA).

Nuclear DNA is found in the nucleus of a cell. The genes coded for by nDNA impact physical characteristics and influence behavior, as well as serving a regulatory function inside the cells.

Mitochondrial DNA is separate and distinct from nDNA and is found in the mitochondria of the cell. The gene coding here is strictly regulatory and has little effect on external characteristics or behavior in comparison to nDNA.

Nuclear DNA occurs in the cell as tightly packed units called chromosomes and each cell has two copies of each chromosome. One pair of chromosomes are involved in sex-determination and are, therefore, called sex chromosomes; females have two X chromosomes and males have an X and a Y. The other chromosomes are called autosomes. All mammals have only one pair of sex chromosomes, but the number of autosomes varies according to species.

Genes are discrete pieces of DNA on the chromosomes that code for particular gene products, which are proteins. Slightly different forms of the same gene are referred to as alleles and each chromosome pair has two alleles; some alleles are dominant and are always expressed, while others are recessive and are only expressed when both alleles of a gene are recessive.

How is DNA Inherited?

There is a pet trade for an animal called a "Wolf Hybrid". This is the cross between a wolf and domestic dog. Hybridization, while it may happen in the wild, is not very likely due to the territorial nature of wolves. The creation of wolf hybrids is generally done by humans. But, the question is, when people breed wolves and dogs, how do they know what the pups will look like or act like? Dog behavior is instinctual and can be correlated to wolf behavior, the fact is, a dog is a domesticated animal, undergoing thousands of years of selective breeding to calm the behavior traits of it's wild ancestor. A wolf, even in a captive environment, has not been domesticated, it can merely be socialized, so the instincts are as functionally intact as if the animal were living in the wild.

So, how do they know what the pups will look like or act like?
Mitochondrial DNA comes solely from the female parent; the egg carries mitochondria as there is no room in the part of the sperm that fuses with the egg at fertilization. Here are a couple of examples to clarify how DNA is passed from parent to offspring:

• A female pure wolf breeds with a pure male dog--the pups will all have the wolf mtDNA of the mother. There will be a half-and-half mixing of dog and wolf nuclear DNA. The male pups will have a pure dog Y chromosome and a pure wolf X chromosome, with all genes of the latter being expressed. The female pups would have an X chromosome from the mother (wolf) and an X chromosome from the father (dog) and the genes on these two X chromosomes will "compete" with each other, with dominant alleles being expressed and recessive being suppressed.
  
  
• A female pure dog breeds with a pure wolf male--the pups will have the dog mtDNA of the mother while the nuclear DNA of the parents would again mix. The male pups will have a pure wolf Y chromosome and a pure dog X chromosome, with all the genes therein being expressed. The female pups will have an X chromosome from the female (dog) and an X from the male (wolf) and the genes on these 2 X chromosomes will "compete" with each other (dominant being expressed and recessive being suppressed).
  
  
• A female wolfdog breeds with a male wolf/wolfdog/dog (it doesn't matter)--the pups would ALWAYS have the mitochondria from the mother and could never have both dog and wolf mitochondria. There will be a mixing of nuclear DNA, but the mtDNA will always remain pure dog or wolf depending on the mothers and the mothers' mothers and so on. To simplify, mtDNA is matriarchal. The nuclear DNA would mix as indicated in the two examples above.

After reviewing all of these resources, make an entry in the Blog and share your observations of dog behavior that may be inherent wolf behavior. List examples of wolf behavior similarities and differences between dogs and wolves, giving specific examples of your own pets (breed, behavior, Photos are welcome...) Try to decipher the functionality of that behavior, meaning, why would this behavior be important to a wild wolf? At the end of the unit, take the genetics quiz.