Coyote


 * <--**Extinct Animal**---**Future Animal**>**

COYOTE

**Fiona Lo 10B** The Coyote, also commonly known as the American Jackal or the Prairie wolf is a species of canine found in North and Central America. Related species of the Coyote include red wolf, grey wolf. Coyotes are roughly around the same size of a German Shepard and act very much like them and look like a dog mix wolf. //Canis Latrans//, its scientific name means “barking dog” in Latin. Coyotes are very flexible with their diet which allows them to eat any thing and is willing to chase its prey for hours like its brother, the __Dingo__ . By being an omnivore they will eat things such as: rabbits, fish, reptiles, ducks, invertebrat es, fruits, nuts etc. They have a great of locations beca use the take advantage of a wide variety of habitats and food sources.


 * ~ Scientific Classification ||
 * Kingdom: || Animalia ||
 * Phylum: || Chordata ||
 * Class: || Mammalia ||
 * Infraclass: || Eutheria ||
 * Order: || Carnivora ||
 * Family: || Canidae ||
 * Genus: || Canis ||
 * Species: || C. latrans ||

= LABELED DIAGRAM =

= HABITAT =



 Coyote's are found in Northern Hemisphere Found throughout Central and North America, ranging from north through to Mexico, Panama in the south, Canada and the United States. On average the temperature where the coyote's lives in ranges from approximately -5-12 degrees Celsius in winter and 10-23 degrees Celsius in summer. During summer, it is less humid in the United States and top of Mexico, around 0~40%, it is mainly humid around Canada where it can get up to 40%~100%.The coyote have very natural predator but their main threat is humans who go coyote hunting, trapping and poisoning. Natural predators include alligators, wolves, mountain lions or cougars.

Coyotes are very adaptable to their environment because they are willing to eat anything by using their good eyesight, strong smelling and hearing. By being adaptable, they can pretty much live in many types of environments including shrub lands, deserts, grasslands, swamps, mountains, woodlands etc. They also adapt well to both urban and rural environments and can be found in the backyards eating domestic pets such as dogs and cats.

Being so adaptable, they often change their habitat to suit the needs of their prey, when food is scarce; being an omnivore, they can eat berries, plants, nuts. Even rubbish scraps from your back yard will do for the coyote. Living in these areas, they also feed on lizards, rabbits, fish, frogs or other smaller animals. Being in areas where there are a lot of farms, sheep and cattle can make up 1/2 of their diet, this is a reason why humans call the coyote a type of pest and are really annoyed with them. There are many plants that are native to North America where the coyote may live around. Some include: big blue stem grasses, indian grasses, purple cone flower, philadelphia daisy, milk weed herb any many more.

= = =ADAPTATIONS =

=STRUCTURAL:=

**SLENDER LEGS:** Coyotes have very slender legs which makes them fast runners. Having slender legs enables them to jump up to 4 meters high in order to catch certain preys, jump up into trees or over fences. With slender legs, they are able to reach speeds of about 40mph (which is as fast as a car) in order to catch prey, and run away from predators. They are also strong swimmers with the use of their slender legs. When running, the coyote puts its tail down to help increase speed unlike foxes/dogs/wolves where they run with their tail horizontal. The coyote is digitigrade meaning their only their toes touch the ground when running and walking which also explains why they are able to run at such high speeds. Having this structure, coyotes are able to run really fast to catch prey or to run away from predators, or even swim through swaps. It is a great feature that makes their survival rate higher. The environmental pressure that could have led to this adaptation is the need for survival and finding food. Slender legs that allow them to jump great heights enables them to jump up into trees to eat berries or nuts, running at fast speeds allows them to prey on small fast running mammals such as rabbits.

**FUR****:** M ost common coyote’s furs are tan brown mixed with a bit of grey. Their fur colours may vary from the environment they live in, e.g. coyotes that live in the mountains tend to be darker furred than the coyotes that live in the desert which tend to be more light brown furred, where this is all related the environment.. These colour variations help hide coyote’s in bush, rock and grass areas. By having this camouflage feature, they are not as easily spotted from predators such as people who go coyote hunting. Some coyote’s have very thick coats of fur which can help them keep warm during winter where it snows in some parts of the mountains. They are able to blend into the bushes, rocks etc. The environmental pressure that could have led to this is to adapt to their habitat/environment. Being in the dessert or bush lands, mountains they can camouflage against the bushes and rocks. Coyotes that live in high mountains have thick fur that helps them survive through the cold snowy winter. Therefore fur helps the animal survive by camouflaging, adapting to different types of habitats and keeps them warm.

=BEHAVIOURAL=

**COMMUNICATION** The way coyote communicate with one another when alone or in a pack is by making high-pitched sounds known as howling, yelping, and crying. By howling, it keeps the members of the packs aware of their location if they are hunting or travelling alone and if they’ve been lost. By howling, it also helps coordinate hunting activities, it uses a long howl to let other members of the pack know where it is and uses short barks to warn of danger. These howls usually occur during night or at dusk or may be heard in the day to establish new territories or during the mating season in spring. When calling at night, it develops into a canine chorus. By using the communication method, it helps coyotes have a higher chance of survival rate because they are able to communicate with one another in different areas, mark their territory, call for help if needed. An environmental pressure that could have led to this adaptation is the need for communication. Since most coyotes lived in packs, they needed a way to communicate with each other. By using this communication, it could strengthen their bonds and also warn other coyotes that this is their territory and no one was to touch it, therefore help them survive.

Coyotes howling at night media type="youtube" key="Eb0zuptmTQE" height="25" width="425" Source: []

**LIVING IN PACKS** By living in packs or 3 or 4, it gives the coyotes an advantage to catch larger animals together when hunting such as deer, antelope, cattle, and sheep. Also it allows them to have better defence, having more access to resources such as food and shelter. When living in packs, the females are able to look after their territory and the pups while the men go out hunting for food. A common way of coyotes marking their territory is by urinating. Their strong smell of urine marks their territory, keep <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">s other packs away from their dens which helps protect pups if parents are out hunting, strengthens social bonds and general communication. Having this behaviour lets coyotes have a higher chance of finding food which leads to higher survival rate; it also gives protection for one another and overall makes them more coordinated and able to rely on one another. An environmental pressure that could have led to this is the need for survival to eat larger animals. It is easier for more coyotes to attack larger animals and sh are the meat than a single coyote attacking smaller mammals. They can look out for each other when living in packs and share shelter in their own territory, therefore living in packs help them survive.

= **NOCTURNAL** = <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The coyote is a nocturnal animal where they like to hunt for food during the night. They are nocturnal because they try their best to avoid humans as much as possible. Even though they are nocturnal animals, if they are not threatened by men they may switch between diurnal and nocturnal where they are also found scavenging through peoples backyards preying on domestic pets, killing farmers livestock. They do not have much predators but mainly humans where the like to hunt coyotes that live in high mountain tops with nice thick fur to protect them from the snow in winter.Being nocturnal has many advantages, they are able to ambush prey more easily with their strong sense of smell, eyesight and hearing abilities of up to 80KHz. Coyotes that live in the desert can hunt at cooler temperatures while other animals are sleeping down under burrows, therefore creating less competition and predators. Most nocturnal animals have either a strong senses or large eyes to see in the dark. For example m any bats have an adaptation called echolocation that determines where objects are by bouncing sound waves off of them.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The environmental pressure that could have led to this is to avoid predators and be able to hunt more food. Having a very keen vision and a strong sense of smell it is not hard for them to hunt in the dark, more over the y can avoid humans which is their main predator. Therefore, by being n octurnal it gives them a higher survival rate than being diurnal.

=BIBLIOGRAPHY=
 * "Coyote Behavior | Coyote Facts." //Coyote Facts - Information on Coyotes//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2011. retrieved from <http://www.coyotefacts.net/coyote>
 * "Coyotes." //National Geographic//. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 23 June 2011. retrieved from <[]>
 * "Coyote or Coyotes Wildlife Information - DesertUSA." //Exploring the South West Desert USA//. Web. 26 June 2011. retrieved from <http://www.desertusa.com/june96/du_cycot.html>.
 * "DNR - Coyote (Canis Latrans)." //SOM - State of Michigan//. Web. 3 June 2011. retrieved from <http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12145_12205-60378--,00.html>.