this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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Canis Lupus and Canis Latrans also can and do breed with Canis Familiaris. The ability to interbreed is one test for being the same species but not the only test. Libraries worth of books are out there on the subject and there are lively debate as to where animals fit in the taxonomy.
Canis familiaris is a subspecies of C. lupus as of 2005. There is a push to distinguish it as a distinct species but that is not the current consensus.
"Testing" for speciation is pretty silly, tbh, because it's an arbitrary distinction no matter what. Our placement of rigid definitions onto the constant gradual process of evolution is always going to have edge cases and outliers. So we give things useful labels and move on until we have better tools (DNA analysis has been great) or have need of better definitions.
Does dogs being wolves do anything for the general public? No, but that's what common names are for. Does the distinction of Canis lupus familiaris help scientists right now? Probably. If not there'd be a stronger push to change it.
This is the good stuff.