Assessment of coyote–wolf–dog admixture using ancestry-informative diagnostic SNPs

Authors: Monzón J, Kays R, Dykhuizen DE.

From Molecular Ecology

“The evolutionary importance of hybridization as a source of new adaptive genetic variation is rapidly gaining recognition. Hybridization between coyotes and wolves may have introduced adaptive alleles into the coyote gene pool that facilitated an expansion in their geographic range and dietary niche.”