Collaborative Research: Wolf RACE (Resource Availability and Competition in Ecosystems) - Insights from The McKittrick and Rancho La Brea Lagerstatte

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At the end of the last ice age, most of North America’s large mammals became extinct, including the iconic dire wolf. However, the smaller but physically similar grey wolf and coyote flourished. Today, grey wolves are threatened by human hunting and climate change and face the possibility of extinction themselves. The researchers will use the fossil record of the McKittrick and Rancho La Brea “tar pits” in southern California to investigate the biology of dire wolves and other canids. Comparisons within and among individual animals will indicate how these animals competed with one another, including members of their own species. This research will be complemented by studying modern grey wolf populations. Together, these data can inform and promote species survival today. This work will support a PhD student, two early career scientists, and undergraduate research experiences for students from historically minoritized backgrounds at a Hispanic Serving Institution. The researchers will also develop curriculum and learning modules to spread awareness of the McKittrick fossils and environmental challenges facing modern wolves. Most knowledge of North American Pleistocene carnivores is from the Rancho La Brea “tar pits” lagerstätte located in southern California. The McKittrick asphalt seep is similar in preservation and species richness, but represents an arid, inland setting with different floral and faunal abundances. Joint analysis of these systems provides a missing perspective of Pleistocene carnivore ecology, resource availability, and competition among species in adjacent ecosystems with different environmental conditions. The researchers will measure dietary patterns in dire wolves and coyotes to determine food web relationships using a suite of approaches: ecomorphology, tooth wear and fracture, stable isotope analysis, and geochronology. They will also probe modern wolf ecology at two sites: a landlocked population from Wood Buffalo Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada and a marine proximal population in Sweden. Together, the modern and fossil data provide models for understanding current and long-term challenges facing modern predator populations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.