Florida black wolf

The Florida black wolf (Canis rufus floridanus),^[2][3] also known as the Florida wolf and the black wolf,^[4] is an extinct subspecies of red wolf^[2] that was endemic to Florida.

Florida black wolf
A Florida black wolf as drawn by James Audubon in Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America
Conservation status
Extinct (unknown year)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Genus:	Canis
Species:	C. rufus
Subspecies:	†C. r. floridanus
Trinomial name
†Canis rufus floridanus Miller, 1912[1]
Synonyms[2]
Canis floridanus (Miller, 1912)[1] Canis lupus floridanus Lupus niger Bartram, 1791

Species controversy

This wolf is recognized as a subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005).^[2]

Currently, this canid is widely considered to be a subspecies of the red wolf Canis rufus^[5] and that a variation in the red wolf's coloring led to the creation of the Florida black wolf.^[6] It was believed by one author that instead of being a subspecies of the red wolf, it was actually a type of coyote.^[7]