Rediscovered Red Wolf Genes May Help Conserve the Species

This is Scientific American's 60-second science, I'm Fionna Samuels.

The red wolf used to live in the eastern US. The range of these dogs stretched from Long Island across to Missouri and down to the Texas-Mexico border. Due to habitat loss and hunting, the population was reduced to a small area on the Gulf coast.

Fourteen individuals were captured for a breeding program. The wolves were captured and declared extinct.

A lot of genetic variation was lost when the species went through this huge roadblock. You can't help it when you have so few founding members.

The assistant professor at Michigan Technological University is researching the genetics of wild animals.

I think what captures the imagination with the red wolf is the fact that it's been the lesser known. It's been the one who has been the best for science and the one who has been the worst for the environment. There were only 14 red wolves left when all the wolves were heavily persecution.

Brzeski and her team have discovered a new pool of red wolf genes that could help bring more diversity to the population.

The alleles are parts of a chromosomes. Like humans, canines have one allle from each parent. Why are they called ghosts?

The red wolves were presumed to have taken all of their genes with them. When a population is dying out, it is possible to find the next closest related species. Red wolves and coyotes can have offspring. Maybe the red wolf dies, because that's what's been happening for red wolves, but all of those genes that it just passed on to its coyote hybrid offspring, now get to circulate.

There is a person who works with Brzeski. Some coyotes in Louisiana and Texas who were protected from hunting still have a lot of red wolf genes.

As red wolves are released back into the wild, breeding with coyotes could help the species regain some of its genetics. The new red wolf population is more genetically diverse than it was in 1980.

Taking the small isolated, inbred population from the captive breeding program that still has red wolf genes that are so critical, and putting them into a wild landscape with new genetic variation that they haven't seen before would be different. Hopefully, this is a combination of genetic health and a rebound that these animals can be again.

Samuels said that the next steps will include how to release red wolves in a way that takes advantage of the ghost alleles in coyote populations. There could be some push back like with other wolves.

There will be controversy and people who are unhappy. There are people that are very supportive. We're responsible for fixing the problem because we created it.

Fionna Samuels is for Scientific American's 60-second science.

This is a transcript of the show.