The Coyote (Canis latrans), often referred to as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a highly adaptable canine species native to North America, renowned for its intelligence, vocalizations, and opportunistic lifestyle. This medium-sized predator has expanded its range dramatically due to human activities and ecological changes, thriving in diverse environments from deserts to urban areas. With a slender build, keen senses, and a varied diet, the coyote plays a crucial role in controlling pest populations while sometimes conflicting with human interests.
Classification
The coyote belongs to the kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Canidae, and genus Canis. Its scientific name, Canis latrans, translates to “barking dog” in Latin, reflecting its vocal nature. It is a basal member of the Canis clade, closely related to wolves and domestic dogs, with divergence from gray wolves estimated at around 51,000 years ago. Evolutionary history traces back to the Miocene epoch, evolving from Eucyon davisi about 6 million years ago, through Canis lepophagus in the Pliocene (5 million years ago), to Pleistocene forms like C. l. orcutti, which were larger and more carnivorous before post-Quaternary size reduction due to prey loss and competition. Genetic admixture with wolves and dogs has occurred, particularly in eastern populations, leading to hybrids known as coywolves or eastern coyotes. There are 19 recognized subspecies, varying in size, color, and distribution, such as C. l. lestes (mountain coyote, larger and grayer), C. l. frustor (southeastern, larger and darker), C. l. ochropus (California valley, ochraceous tones), and C. l. microdon (Lower Rio Grande, smaller). The species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN due to its wide range and stable population.
Physical Description
Coyotes are medium-sized canids with a slender, agile build adapted for speed and endurance. Males typically weigh 8–20 kg (18–44 lb), while females range from 7–18 kg (15–40 lb), with northern and eastern subspecies larger (up to 18 kg average) than southern ones (around 11.5 kg in Mexico). Total body length is 1.0–1.35 m (3 ft 3 in–4 ft 5 in), including a 40 cm (16 in) bushy tail, and shoulder height is about 58 cm (23 in). Fur coloration varies geographically: grayish-brown to yellowish-gray dorsally, with black-tipped guard hairs forming a dorsal stripe and shoulder cross, reddish tones on the legs, head, and muzzle, and white on the throat and belly. Northern forms have denser fur, while desert populations are paler. They molt annually from May to July. Notable features include large, pointed erect ears, a long slender muzzle, yellow eyes with round pupils, a black nose, and digitigrade feet with four toes showing claw marks in tracks. The dental formula is 3/3, 1/1, 4/4, 2/3, with shearing carnassials and crushing molars. Sexual dimorphism is present, with males larger; albinism and melanism occur rarely. Adaptations include acute hearing, vision for low light and movement detection, a strong sense of smell, and bluish-black scent glands at the tail base.
Behavior
Coyotes are versatile and intelligent, exhibiting flexible social structures from solitary individuals to family units or loose packs of unrelated animals, less hierarchical than wolves. They are primarily crepuscular and nocturnal, especially in human-dominated areas to avoid conflict, but can be active during the day. Territorial ranges vary from 0.4–62 km², defended year-round but more aggressively during denning, marked by urine, feces, and ground scratching. Communication involves a rich vocal repertoire—the most vocal North American mammal—including howls (lone or group yip-howls for territory announcement or reunion), barks, yelps, squeaks, and distress calls, plus visual, tactile, and olfactory signals like scent-marking. Hunting behaviors include stalking and pouncing on small prey with stiff-legged bounds, chasing squirrels or birds, cooperative pursuits of larger ungulates, and mutualistic partnerships with American badgers for digging out rodents. They cache excess food, urinate on caches, and can run up to 65 km/h (40 mph), jump 4 m (13 ft), and swim proficiently but climb poorly. In urban settings, they use human trails and become bolder, sometimes approaching people or preying on pets. They are gregarious but adaptable, with less aggression toward conspecifics than wolves.
Food Sources
As opportunistic omnivores, coyotes have a diet that is about 90% animal matter, supplemented by plant foods, making them highly adaptable feeders. Primary prey includes small mammals like rabbits, hares, rodents (e.g., ground squirrels, mice), birds, reptiles (including snakes like rattlesnakes), amphibians, fish, invertebrates (e.g., insects, scorpions), and carrion. They occasionally hunt larger ungulates such as deer, elk, pronghorn, or livestock (e.g., sheep, causing economic impacts), especially in packs during winter. Plant sources include fruits (e.g., strawberries, apples, prickly pear), vegetables (e.g., carrots), grasses, and leaves like balsam fir or white cedar, particularly in fall and winter for hydration and nutrition. In coastal areas, they consume marine mammals or crustaceans; in deserts, seasonal insects like hawkmoth caterpillars. They scavenge human garbage, pets, or livestock in urban/suburban zones and cannibalize dead coyotes. Daily food requirement is about 600 g (1.3 lb), with annual consumption around 250 kg (550 lb) per individual. Hunting averages 4 km (2.5 mi) nightly, and they compete with or are kleptoparasitized by species like wolves, bears, and golden eagles.
Breeding
Coyotes are generally monogamous, with pair bonds forming 2–3 months before mating and potentially lasting years, though not always lifelong. Females are monoestrous, entering heat for 2–5 days between late January and late March, varying by latitude. Courtship involves chasing, play-fighting, and scent-marking; copulation includes a 5–45 minute tie. Gestation lasts 60–63 days, with litters of 1–19 pups (average 6), influenced by population density and food availability. Pups are born altricial (blind, limp-eared, weighing 200–500 g) in dens—burrows, rocky crevices, or abandoned structures—with multiple entrances for escape. Eyes open at 10 days, pups emerge at 21–28 days, wean at 35 days, and are fed regurgitated food by both parents. Hierarchy forms through play-fighting by 4–5 weeks; males disperse at 6–9 months, females often stay to form pack nuclei. Sexual maturity is reached at 12 months (later in eastern hybrids), with full adult size by 9–12 months. Both parents provide protection, provisioning, and teach hunting skills; extended family may assist. Hybridization with dogs and wolves occurs, enhancing adaptability in some populations.
Habitat and Range
Coyotes are extremely adaptable, inhabiting a wide array of biomes including deserts, grasslands, forests, swamps, chaparral, scrublands, mountains, taiga, tropical savannas, riparian zones, and human-modified environments like agricultural fields, suburbs, and cities. They prefer open or semi-open areas for hunting but tolerate dense forests and high elevations up to alpine regions. Dens are often in rocky crevices, logs, caves, or enlarged burrows of other animals, reused annually. Historically confined to the arid West, open plains, and northern/central Mexico, their range expanded post-Columbian era due to wolf extirpation, land clearing, and human development. Now, they span the Nearctic region from Alaska and northern Canada (excluding the extreme north) southward through the contiguous United States, Mexico, Central America to Panama, with recent sightings in eastern Panama and potential expansion into South America via the Darién Gap. Eastern expansions occurred in waves during the early and mid-20th century, leading to hybridization in forested areas. They are absent from areas with dense wolf populations but thrive in human-altered landscapes.