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| Falklandwolf (Dusicyon australis) (Original description: Canis antarcticus) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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by Sindya N. Bhanoo
The Falkland Islands wolf, long extinct, is the only land-based mammal native to the islands. European explorers in the 17th century were puzzled by the presence of this lone mammalian species, as was Charles Darwin.
Now, researchers writing in Nature Communications suggest that the wolf traveled across a thin, shallow strait from the mainland to the islands during the last glacial maximum.During this period, about 18,000 to 25,000 years ago, the strait would periodically freeze over.
"This wolf was likely tracking penguins, seals and sea birds that were hauling out onto the ice," said Dr. Alan Cooper, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia.
The scientists believe the wolf crossed the strait from what is now Argentina. "The question is, how did this great big mammal get over when rodents didn't?" he said.
Dr. Cooper and his colleagues compared DNA samples from the wolf with those of one of its closest mainland relatives, an extinct foxlike species called Dusicyon avus. They found that the two species separated about 16,000 years ago, coinciding with the last glacial maximum and the frozen marine strait.
Previously, it had been theorized that the wolf was semi-domesticated and brought to the island by humans.
The last Falkland Islands wolf was spotted in the late 19th century.
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Taken form TODAY Saturday Edition, April 06, 2013
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