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Dogs are actually a subspecies of the wolf. Notice their scientific names are similar. Dogs are Canis Lupus Familiaris and Wolves are Canis Lupus. Another sign they are nearly the same species. They can not only produce offspring, but their offspring are able to reproduce, something hybrids such as mules, tigons, and zorses cannot do.

As well, some wolves contain at least one dog characteristic, beta defensin 103 at the K-locus giving black color, apparently a useful survival trait. This unique dog mutation has spread fairly evenly among subarctic North American wolf populations, all now part dog. No one knows what other physical or behavioural traits, if any, may have been useful and retained from the dog genome, but this one trait is openly displayed.

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12y ago

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