After centuries of decline and protracted bottlenecks, the peninsular Italian wolf population has naturally recovered. However, an exhaustive comprehension of the effects of such a conservation success is still limited by the reduced availability of historical data. Therefore, in this study, we morphologically and genetically analyzed historical and contemporary wolf samples, also exploiting the optimization of an innovative bone DNA extraction method, to describe the morphological variability of the subspecies and its genetic diversity during the last 30 years. We obtained high amplification and genotyping success rates for tissue, blood and also petrous bone DNA samples. Multivariate, clustering and variability analyses confirmed that the Apennine wolf population is genetically and morphologically well-distinguishable from both European wolves and dogs, with no natural immigration from other populations, while its genetic variability has remained low across the last three decades, without significant changes between historical and contemporary specimens. This study highlights the scientific value of well-maintained museum collections, demonstrates that petrous bones represent reliable DNA sources, and emphasizes the need to genetically long-term monitor the dynamics of peculiar wolf populations to ensure appropriate conservation management actions.

• Keywords
• Canis lupus italicus, Apennine Italian wolves, Conservation management, Genetic variability patterns, Historical biological samples, Multilocus genetic profiles, Museomics, Museum collections, Population genetics,
• MeSH
• DNA genetics   MeSH
• Genetic Variation MeSH
• Genotype MeSH
• Museums MeSH
• Petrous Bone chemistry   MeSH
• Wolves * genetics   anatomy & histology   classification   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Italy MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA MeSH

The grey wolf (Canis lupus) was the first species to give rise to a domestic population, and they remained widespread throughout the last Ice Age when many other large mammal species went extinct. Little is known, however, about the history and possible extinction of past wolf populations or when and where the wolf progenitors of the present-day dog lineage (Canis familiaris) lived1-8. Here we analysed 72 ancient wolf genomes spanning the last 100,000 years from Europe, Siberia and North America. We found that wolf populations were highly connected throughout the Late Pleistocene, with levels of differentiation an order of magnitude lower than they are today. This population connectivity allowed us to detect natural selection across the time series, including rapid fixation of mutations in the gene IFT88 40,000-30,000 years ago. We show that dogs are overall more closely related to ancient wolves from eastern Eurasia than to those from western Eurasia, suggesting a domestication process in the east. However, we also found that dogs in the Near East and Africa derive up to half of their ancestry from a distinct population related to modern southwest Eurasian wolves, reflecting either an independent domestication process or admixture from local wolves. None of the analysed ancient wolf genomes is a direct match for either of these dog ancestries, meaning that the exact progenitor populations remain to be located.

• MeSH
• History, Ancient MeSH
• Domestication MeSH
• Phylogeny * MeSH
• Genome * genetics   MeSH
• Genomics * MeSH
• Mutation MeSH
• Tumor Suppressor Proteins genetics   MeSH
• Dogs * genetics   MeSH
• Selection, Genetic MeSH
• DNA, Ancient analysis   MeSH
• Wolves * classification   genetics   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• History, Ancient MeSH
• Dogs * genetics   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Historical Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Africa MeSH
• Europe MeSH
• North America MeSH
• Siberia MeSH
• Middle East MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Tumor Suppressor Proteins MeSH
• DNA, Ancient MeSH