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Gulf Coast Canids Form a Distinctive Wetland Coyote Ecotype With Red Wolf Ancestry

Wild coyote standing in wetland vegetation at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas
Research · Evolution & taxonomy

A study published on 10 February 2026 in Ecosphere concludes that canids living in the coastal wetlands of southwestern Louisiana, USA form a distinctive wetland ecotype of the coyote (Canis latrans). The population developed from the historical hybrid swarm between coyotes and red wolves (Canis rufus) that formed as coyotes colonised the red wolf’s former range during the twentieth century.

The study combined body measurements, GPS tracking, habitat selection, survival estimates and a preliminary analysis of diet. Researchers captured and radio-collared 40 Gulf Coast canids in southwestern Louisiana during 2021 and 2022. For 24 of these animals, previously published genetic analyses estimated red wolf ancestry at an average of 38%, ranging from 20% to 69%.

Long legs resembled red wolf-coyote hybrids

The animals had a distinctive build. They were tall and relatively long-legged, and measurements of the body behind the skull — the postcranial measurements — resembled known red wolf-coyote hybrids. Their head dimensions, however, remained more similar to coyotes. Across 45 measured animals, mean body mass was 16.5 kg and mean shoulder height was 61.1 cm.

Wetland use and a nutria-rich diet set the ecotype apart

Their habitat use also differed from that expected of more generalist inland coyotes. Gulf Coast canids strongly favoured wetland habitats, including large river floodplains and coastal wetlands. The authors conclude that this habitat specialisation limits the ecotype mainly to the Gulf Coast wetland system and may help maintain its separation from surrounding inland coyote populations.

Diet also reflected the wetland setting, although nutria were not the most frequent food category overall. In 252 scats collected from 13 territories, small mammals occurred in 57.1% and nutria (Myocastor coypus) in 41.3%, while white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) occurred in only 0.4%. Compared with other southeastern coyote populations, the Gulf Coast animals showed a particularly strong contrast in their much higher use of nutria and much lower use of white-tailed deer.

Estimated annual survival was 80%

Estimated mean annual survival was 80%. The authors argue that this high survival, together with wetland habitat selection and the ability of transient animals to move through coastal and river-floodplain habitats, may help explain why red wolf ancestry has persisted in coyotes along the Texas-Louisiana coast.

Sources and image credit

  1. Hinton, J. W., Shutt, A. C., Murphy, J., & O'Donnell, C. (2026). Gulf Coast canids: A wetland coyote ecotype shaped by red wolf introgression. Ecosphere, 17(2), e70529. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70529Primary peer-reviewed open-access article, first published and version of record online 10 February 2026 under CC BY 4.0. The study combined morphometrics, GPS radiotelemetry, habitat selection, survival and diet data and concluded that Gulf Coast canids are a wetland coyote ecotype derived from the historical red wolf-coyote hybrid swarm.

Image: Bettina Arrigoni / Wikimedia Commons — wild coyote (Canis latrans) in wetland vegetation at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, photographed 29 March 2018. Representative Gulf Coast wetland photograph, not one of the radio-collared animals in the study. · CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ · Source

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