BEIJING, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have disclosed that gray wolves from the country's different regions derived from different lineages, according to a recent study paper published in the journal iScience.
Gray wolves, or Canis lupus, are one of many widely distributed terrestrial mammals in Eurasia, North America and North Africa.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) sequenced six specimens from wolf skins around the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Heilongjiang and Jilin.
They found that the gray wolves from the first three provinces derived from a single lineage, distinct from those from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and northern regions.
The results also indicated that the interspecific gene flow in the genus of Canis likely played an important role in its speciation.
The research approach on ancient DNA can be a remarkable reference for animal museums, said the paper.
