Canis edwardii is an extinct species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of Canidae

Canidae

Canidae is the biological family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals that includes wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and domestic dogs. A member of this family is called a canid . The Canidae family is divided into two tribes: Canini and Vulpini...

 which was endemic to most of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 from the Blancan

Blancan

The Blancan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 4,750,000 to 1,808,000 years BP, a period of .. It is usually considered to start in the early-mid Pliocene epoch and end...

 stage of the Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

 epoch through to the Irvingtonian

Irvingtonian

The Irvingtonian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 1,800,000 to 300,000 years BP, a period of . It is usually considered to overlap the Lower Pleistocene and Middle...

 stage of the Pleistocene

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

 epoch, living 4.9 Mya—300,000 years ago, existing for approximately . It is related to the jackals.

It was contemporaneous with the Dire Wolf

Dire Wolf

The Dire Wolf, Canis dirus, is an extinct carnivorous mammal of the genus Canis, and was most common in North America and South America from the Irvingtonian stage to the Rancholabrean stage of the Pleistocene epoch living 1.80 Ma – 10,000 years ago, existing for approximately .- Relationships...

 (1.80 Ma—11,000 years ago), Canis lepophagus

Canis lepophagus

Canis lepophagus or Hare-eating Wolf is an extinct species of canidae which was endemic to much of North America and lived from the Miocene epoch through Early Pleistocene, 10.3—1.8 Mya. The species existed for approximately . It is one of the more basal species of Canis, having existed before most...

(10.3—1.8 Ma), Armbruster's Wolf (1.8 Mya—300,000 years ago), Canis rufus (1-2 Ma-present), and the Gray Wolf

Gray Wolf

The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...

(3.5 Ma—present).

Taxonomy

Canis edwardii was named by Gazin in 1942. This species was synonymized subjectively with Canis lupus (Gray wolf) in 1954 by B. Kurten in 1974 and B. Kurten and E. Anderson in 1980, but is currently accepted as valid.

Body mass

A specimen was estimated by Legendre and Roth to weigh 35 kg (77.2 lb) and another specimen was estimated to weigh 31 kg (68.3 lb).