Coyote
A versatile North American canine known for adaptability and trickster folklore.
The coyote (Canis latrans) is a species of canine native to North America, also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, and brush wolf. It is smaller than the gray wolf and slightly smaller than the eastern wolf and red wolf, filling a similar ecological niche to the golden jackal in Eurasia. Listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the coyote is highly adaptable and has expanded into human-modified environments, including urban areas.
- Scientific name
- Canis latrans
- Common names
- American jackal, prairie wolf, brush wolf
- Average male weight
- 8 to 20 kg (18 to 44 lb)
- Average female weight
- 7 to 18 kg (15 to 40 lb)
- Number of subspecies
- 19
- Conservation status
- Least concern
- Primary threat
- Humans
Lore & Background
Say documented the difference between the 'prairie wolf' (coyote) and the Great Plains wolf, naming the coyote Canis latrans. Coyotes are highly flexible in social organization, living either in family units or loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals. Their diet is primarily carnivorous, consisting of deer, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, with occasional fruits and vegetables. Their characteristic vocalization is a howl that changes rapidly in tone and pitch. Humans are the coyote's greatest threat, followed by cougars and gray wolves. While coyotes have never been known to mate with gray wolves in the wild, they interbreed with eastern wolves and red wolves, producing 'coywolf' hybrids. In northeastern North America, the eastern coyote is a larger subspecies resulting from historical and recent matings with various wolves.
Reader's Guide
The coyote holds significant ecological and cultural importance. Ecologically, it is a versatile predator that adapts readily to environments modified by humans, including urban areas, and its wide distribution across North America has kept its conservation status at least concern. Its ability to interbreed with eastern and red wolves has led to genetic exchange across canid species, with most North American wolves containing some level of coyote DNA. Culturally, the coyote is a prominent figure in Native American folklore, especially in Aridoamerica, where it is often depicted as a trickster that alternates between coyote and human form, using deception and humor to rebel against social conventions. In Mesoamerican cosmology, it was respected as a symbol of military might. After European colonization, Anglo-American culture viewed the coyote as cowardly and untrustworthy, and unlike wolves, public attitudes toward the coyote remain largely negative.
Did You Know?
- Coyotes have 19 recognized subspecies.
- Coyotes interbreed with eastern wolves and red wolves, producing 'coywolf' hybrids.
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