Timber Wolves (canis lupus), also known as Grey Wolves, are large carnivores. They have a great sense of smell, as well as great hearing abilities.

Geologic times

They first evolved about 1,000,000 years ago in Eurasia, and then came to America about 750,000 years ago.

HABITAT:

They can live in many kinds of places, like prairies, forests, tundras, brushlands, mountains, and deserts. They are common in many areas in the northern hemisphere.

CLASSIFICATION:

Phylum: Chordata

Kingdom: Animalia

Family: Candae

Genus: Canis

MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR EVIDENCE

CLOSE RELATIVES

The close relatives of Timber Wolves show that there are many other animals that share the same qualities.

-Siberian Husky

-Shih Tzu

-Alaskan Malamute

Homologous Structures:

Homologous structures are bone structures in different species' that have different functions, but have very similar structures. Even though they perform very different functions, this shows that there is a likely chance of a common ancestor in the past.

BIRDS

The bone structures in bird's wings are very similar to the bone structures in the legs of wolves.

HUMANS

The bones in the arms of humans are similar to the bones in the legs of wolves, but they perform different functions

Vestigial Structures:

Vestigial structures are structures or parts of animals that the animal no longer needs, but used to be important to the ancestors of that species.

DEWCLAWS

Not all of them have it, but many timber wolves or other kinds are born with a "Dewclaw," or an extra claw that is not used and doesn't touch the ground. The ancestors of the wolves used these claws to help them climb trees, as they evolved from tree climbing animals called "miacis."

Transitional Fossils

Transitional Fossils are the fossilized remains of transitional forms of life that show a transition of evolution.

These two skulls show the changes throughout the years and show how the timber wolf has evolved.

Comparative Embryology

Comparative embryology is the comparison of embryos that shows shared similarities with other animals during development.

Wolf embryo stages compared to the embryo stages of others:

THE END