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Black wolf
Melanistic wolf / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Black Wolf" redirects here. For other uses, see Black Wolf (disambiguation).
A black wolf is a melanistic colour variant of the gray wolf (Canis lupus).[1][2] Black specimens were recorded among red wolves (Canis rufus), though the colour phase in this species is not extinct yet.[3] Genetic research from the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California, Los Angeles revealed that wolves with black pelts owe their distinctive coloration to a mutation which occurred in domestic dogs, and was carried to wolves through wolf-dog hybridization.[1] Besides coat and knee colour, they are normal grey wolves.
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