Eastern Coyote Morphology

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mor·phol·o·gy, noun

1. the branch of biology dealing with the form and structure of organisms.

2. the form and structure of an organism considered as a whole.

Eastern coyotes have a look that is typically canine, and somewhere between wolves and western coyotes. They have large, upright ears, yellow/brown eyes, and a long slender snout. Relative to domestic dogs and wolves, coyotes have slender legs, and their coats range in color from a grizzled grey to reddish-brown. In the northeast where coyotes experience seasonal changes, their coat changes in appearance between the warmer and colder weather. Coyotes appear larger and heavier in the winter months when their coat is thickest. In the warm weather (and in warmer climates) they can look quite lanky and skinny – very different from dogs and wolves.

Eastern vs. Western Coyotes
The eastern coyote varies from the western coyote in size, as well its as overall look. Western coyotes average 20 – 30 lbs (Beckoff, 1978). The eastern coyote averages 30 t0 50 lbs. (Beckoff, 1978; Way 2007) although popular estimates widely overestimate this – often because people compare a coyote’s relative size to a domestic dog’s. Domestic dogs are usually much heavier for their size than wild canids. Eastern coyotes have a slightly heavier, more ‘wolfish’ appearance than their western counterparts.

One reason for the discrepancy in size between eastern and western coyotes is that as coyotes moved east at the beginning to middle of the 20th century, they bred with red (Canis rufus) and eastern (Canis lycaon) wolves.* Studies into coyote genetics show wolf DNA present in eastern populations of coyotes (Beckoff, 1978; Parker, 1995). (Coyote image to left from http://www.stpete.org/wildlife).*Eastern wolves (Canis lycaon), are smaller than the wolf populations in the western US (known as the gray wolf [Canis lupus]), and are now recognized to be the population of wolves that were present in northeastern North America prior to European settlement.

Coyotes vs. Wolves
Even with wolf DNA present, telling coyotes apart from wolves is usually pretty straightforward. Wolves have a heavier overall appearance relative to coyotes – eastern or western – with thicker legs and muzzle, shorter ears and considerably larger

feet. Wolves average in weight from approximately 60 to 130 lbs (nwf.org) and are much larger overall. (Wolf image to the right from http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolfrest.htm).

It is worth noting that the physical variations between eastern coyotes (C. latrans) and eastern wolves (C. lycaon) – smaller overall than gray wolves – is considerably smaller than the differences between western coyotes and gray wolves (C. lupus). Just to further confuse the issue, it is likely that in areas of southeastern Canada where the eastern wolf populations still exists, inbreeding takes place between eastern wolves and eastern coyotes, further reducing the distinctiveness between these two species. As it is known that individual wolves have traveled down to the northeastern US from Canada (see http://mainewolfcoalition.org/ for more info) so too can it be assumed that the eastern coyote/eastern wolf hybrids can and will do the same.

Over time we may continue to see a change in the appearance – and behavior – of eastern coyotes in New England as they and their canid cousins adapt to their changing landscape. Humans have made the eastern coyote/coywolf what it is today, and it is fascinating to watch them evolve in such a relatively short span of time.