Re: Are huskies and grey wolves in the same species?

Hi Kayla:

All domesticated dog species are considered to be members of the same species, Canis familaris. Wolves are also in the genus Canis, but are generally considered to be different species. For instance the Red Wolf is Canis rufus, and the Timber Wolf is Canis lupus. There are also quite a lot of subspecies of wolves too!

What we now know as the domestic dog is thought to have evolved from a wild wolf species several thousand years ago. Humankind has since bred dogs for different applications (e.g. guard dogs, rat catchers, retrievers) which has resulted in the body size and shape of dogs changing quite a lot from their wolf ancestors. You can find out more about the domestication of the wolf here. There was also a very interesting article about the evolution of dogs in a recent issue of National Geographic.

Hope that helps!
Rob Campbell, MAD Scientist