A landmark research has unraveled the mystery behind the apparent differences of Western and Eastern coyotes with regard size, color and hunting skills: the larger Eastern species have the DNA of both coyote and wolf in their blood. This explains the wide color variation of the Eastern coyotes and why said animals are great deer hunters compared to the Western counterparts which subsist mainly on rabbits and other small animals.
Scientists believe that the ancestors of present-day Eastern coyotes are the ancient coyotes from the western Great Plains and Rocky Mountains that migrated and crossbred with wolves in the area of Minnesota and southern Canada.
Picture Credit : Alan Vernon.
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