Why are wolves and domestic dogs classified as different species when they can produce viable offspring?

Question

Leviter, RELAX! I am an evolutionist, not a creationist, and my question wasn't a trap.

I was just curious if they were defined as a species long ago, or if their morphological differences justified it, even though their genetic similarities allowed them to breed. And being able to produce viable offspring has a LOT to do with it. Creationists are always screaming for examples of "speciation," and that has to do with the question I asked.

Answer 1

1) Grey Wolves and dogs arebot the same species: Canis lupus.

2) What does producing viable offspring have to do with anything? Catle and bison produce vaible offspring, as do grey wolves and jackals. Yet nobody suggests that cattle and bison are the same species, nor are jackals and grey wolves.

Producing viable offspring doens;t have a single damn thing to do with detemrining species status. This is just another lie told to children, in the US by the Christian right to try to bolster their religious myhtology. And people wonder why Americans are percieved as being ignorant.

In the real world animals of different species and even entirely different genera crossbreed and produce perfcetly viable offspring millions of times each day.

Reality doesn't care what myths are written in a bronze age prayer book.

Answer 2

Gilbert is right...dogs are considered a subspecies of wolf and are classified as Canis Lupus Familiaris with the wolf being Canis Lupus Lupus (the grey wolf) among many other subspecies of wolf such as Canis Lupus Lycaon.(eastern timber wolf)

Wikipedia... At the molecular level, dogs are wolves (Canis lupus) and the wide variation in their adult morphology probably results from simple changes in developmental rates and timing [2].

The assessment that the wolf is the progenitor of the dog is a working hypothesis that currently is supported by several lines of independent evidence behaviour, morphology and genetics. The parallel conclusions of these investigations strongly suggest, given current knowledge and understanding of evolutionary process, that the wolf is the domestic dog's most recent ancestor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog

Answer 3

Just to be sure, the dog (*Canis lupus familiaris*) is the subspecies of the grey wolf (*Canis lupus*). Another subspecies of this species would be the dingo (*Canis lupus dingo*). However, the genus *Canis* has numerous other species as well (seven species, to be exact). But yes, all in all, dogs are domesticated grey wolves (domestication has taken place probably about five times independently) and are classified as such.

Answer 4

They aren't any more.

They were before analysis of the genome showed no appreciable differences.

But - consider - if, not knowing anything about dogs and wolves, you came across the skeleton of a mini-dachshund, and the skeleton of a St Bernard, would you place them in the same species? I sure wouldn't. I'd say "related species" - but different.

Answer 5

Interestingly enough, a few years back the Veterinary community altered its classification of Wolf to exactly that of domestic dogs.

It is now generally accepted that both are classified in the exact same way.

This was newsworthy to me as a wolf-hybrid owner. Prior to the reclassification, it was illegal for Vet's in my state to provide a Rabies vaccination to wolves or wolf-hybrid dogs. Now it is legal.

Hope this helps answer your question.

Answer 6

Well, I don't know the exact answer, but Tigers and Lions can also create offspring (a literal Liger), but they are also distinct species.

Answer 7

Actually, they are the same species... Domestic dogs are considered a "subspecies" of wolves.

http://www.grapevine.net/~wolf2dog/annd2.htm

Answer 8

I've seen a dog mix with a cat. But I don't have the answer to your question

Answer 9

Some people see that they look different, so they want them to be different, even though they are mostly the same.

Answer 10

years of breeding