Is my dog a wolf?

Wolf (left) Dog (right)

Dr. Robert K Wayne, Canid Evolutionary Biologist and Geneticist at UC-Davis

"The domestic dog is an extremely close relative of the gray wolf, differing from it by at most 0.2% of mtDNA sequence15,22,23.

In comparison, the gray wolf differs from its closest wild relative, the coyote, by about 4% of mitochondrial DNA sequence14. Therefore, the molecular genetic evidence does not support theories that domestic dogs arose from jackal ancestors24. Dogs are gray wolves, despite their diversity in size and proportion; the wide variation in their adult morphology probably results from simple changes in developmental rate and timing25." From The Molecular Evolution of the Dog Family by Robert K Wayne

"At the molecular level not much changed at all: The DNA makeup of wolves and dogs is almost identical."  National Geographics

Molecular Evolution of the Dog Family - Robert K Wayne

REFERENCES TO WOLF/DOG GENETIC HISTORY

Of Wolves and Dogs

Wolf to Woof - A Family Portrait - AMAZING!

NEW Some interesting facts about gray wolves and their eating habits

Evolution of the Family Dog

The Wolf by L. David Mech -- a senior research scientist with the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey.