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Elizabeth -- When you have a domestic dog with wolf-like morphology, differentiation isn't always easy. Here are a few points that I look for to make that differentiation: 1. Shape of the occiput -- triangular vs. rounded 2. Presence of 'keyholing' of the foramen magnum 3. Shape of the mandibular symphysis in anterior view (see illustration in Schmidt) 4. Degree of 'bowing' of the mandibular rami 5. Premolar teeth that have failed to develop or erupt 6. Crowding of the teeth, sometimes with imbrication or impaction; or conversely 'stretching out' of the rami and the toothrow 7. General shape of the skull -- either more elongate/narrow or more brachycephalic than would be expected in a wolf 8. 'Steppiness' of the forehead 9. Snubbiness, smallness, or pointy shape to the snout 10. A valuable character well explained in some of Ian Baxter's papers: the degree of 'airorhynchy' (upturning of the anterior skull relative to the basicranium) vs. 'klinorhynchy' (downturning of same). Otherwise, differentiating dogs has been done fairly effectively by the use of multivariate statistical tools, especially 'CVA', sometimes called discriminant function analysis. See the symposium volumes often cited here on the dog and the recent threads containing references by Clark, Sergeantson, Crockford, and others. As to coyote: you might as well include fox also. Both are smaller and finer than any wolf and most dogs, but some small breeds of domestic dog are almost indistinguishable from fox. Remember too that coyotes and dogs sometimes hybridize, and that hybridization of dog and wolf is probably endemic (if 'hybridisation' is the right word, when in fact technically they are members of the same species). It's a fraught issue, and not just from the morphologist's point of view; the DNA guys can't agree either and the whole thing is currently a hot issue. Hope this helps -- Deb Bennett > Does anyone know of any morphological characteristics for differentiating > wolf, dog, and coyote? I know wolves are generally bigger than dogs but I > have a skull that is fairly large but some modern dog breeds are fairly > large and could overlap in size with wolf so I'm looking for something > besides just size to use. Thanks. > Elizabeth > > _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ > > Dr. Elizabeth Moore > Curator of Archaeology > Virginia Museum of Natural History > Martinsville, VA 24112 > [log in to unmask] > 276 634-4176 > www.vmnh.net > >