The professionally sanctioned taxonomy of mammals is published by the American Society of Mammalogists and follows taxonomy in Mammal Species of the World used by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.
"...occidentalis is a distinctly larger wolf adapted to colder climates..."
Some KEY POINTS From this Study...
"...An example of issues potentially created by using the wrong morphological type or subspecies is illustrated as follows: “Bergman’s Rule,” a widely accepted principal of evolutionary selection, has found species and races of homoeothermic animals in colder climates typically have larger bodies than their relatives living in warmer climates (Frings and Frings 1970:282; Welty 1975:130,432). The average weight of male wolves in the northern U.S. Rockies [presumably, occidentalis stock] is 100 lbs, 30% larger than male wolves in Wisconsin..."
"...The Canadian wolf is a larger subspecies adapted to a colder, more northerly climate..."
"...Finally, the Service has not rigorously explored the biological question and the legality under the ESA of “recovering” a taxon or type by expanding the historic range of a less similar type, when more closely related founder stock still remains available..."
