Humans have created a new hybrid canine species that is becoming a top predator. It is called the coywolf, or Eastern coyote.

Just as the name suggests, the coywolf is the mixture of a coyote and a wolf. The species was made up of three DNA samples, with 1/4 coming from wolves, 2/3 from wolves and the rest being filled out with that of domesticated dogs.

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The coywolf's genes combine the coyote's capacity for urban living and the wolves' inclination to the wild. They are also much bigger than any normal coyote with strong jaws of a wolf.

Chief among these inherited traits is the penchant of wolves for hunting in packs. With the increased size and social nature of all animals, the coywolf is able to take down much larger prey while still being able to adapt to modern cities.

Coywolves did not originally emerge from man-made genetic modification. Instead, the species came together when coyote moved eastward, while the wolf populations were being hunted during the time of European colonization.

These actions led the two related species to eventually come together in the lands north of the Great Lakes of America and bred together.

Another reason for the crossbreeding is also due to the climate change brought about by human activities.

Due to climate change, the temperature in the arctic has increased, warming two to four times quicker than the rest of the planet.

This allows for spring and winter to come weeks earlier. Plants are starting to populate lands that were once barren, and animals who live in higher latitudes are searching for more domains due to the change in temperature.

Scientists have since recreated the coywolf hybrid, yielding a successful litter of six puppies.

Research finds that these hybrids are better at adapting to hard times than their parent species.

TagsCoywolf, Eastern Coyote