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110-650: The long-distance howling of wolves and coyotes is one way in which canines communicate. Long-distance contact calls are common in Canidae , typically in the form of either barks (termed "pulse trains") or howls (termed "long acoustic streams"). Wolves howl to assemble the pack usually before and after hunts, to pass on an alarm particularly at a den site, to locate each other during a storm, while crossing unfamiliar territory, and to communicate across great distances. Under certain conditions, wolf howls can be heard over areas of up to 130 km (50 sq mi). The phases of

220-522: A baculum and a structure called the bulbus glandis that expands during copulation , forming a copulatory tie that lasts for up to an hour. Young canids are born blind, with their eyes opening a few weeks after birth. All living canids (Caninae) have a ligament analogous to the nuchal ligament of ungulates used to maintain the posture of the head and neck with little active muscle exertion; this ligament allows them to conserve energy while running long distances following scent trails with their nose to

330-532: A dental formula of: 3.1.4.2 3.1.4.3 . The bush dog has only one upper molar with two below, the dhole has two above and two below. and the bat-eared fox has three or four upper molars and four lower ones. The molar teeth are strong in most species, allowing the animals to crack open bone to reach the marrow . The deciduous, or baby teeth, formula in canids is 3.1.3 3.1.3 , molars being completely absent. Almost all canids are social animals and live together in groups. In general, they are territorial or have

440-562: A gestation of 50 to 60 days, while larger species average 60 to 65 days. The time of year in which the breeding season occurs is related to the length of day, as has been shown for several species that have been moved across the equator and experiences a six-month shift of phase. Domestic dogs and certain small canids in captivity may come into oestrus more often, perhaps because the photoperiod stimulus breaks down under conditions of artificial lighting. Canids have an oestrus period of 1 to 20 days, lasting one week in most species. The size of

550-481: A state of trance ; or it may be no more than the messenger of the human being, a real animal or a familiar spirit , whose intimate connection with its owner is shown by the fact that any injury to it is believed, by a phenomenon known as repercussion, to cause a corresponding injury to the human being. Werewolves were said in European folklore to bear tell-tale physical traits even in their human form. These included

660-517: A "disorder of the brain". Although there were continuing reports of extraordinary wolflike beasts, they were not considered to be werewolves. One such report concerned the Beast of Gévaudan , which terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan , now called Lozère , in south-central France. From 1764 to 1767, it killed upwards of 80 men, women, and children. The part of Europe which showed more vigorous interest in werewolves after 1650

770-653: A "greeting song". The group yip howl is emitted when two or more pack members reunite and may be the final act of a complex greeting ceremony. Contact calls include lone howls and group howls, as well as the previously mentioned group yip howls. The lone howl is the most iconic sound of the coyote and may serve the purpose of announcing the presence of a lone individual separated from its pack. Group howls are used as both substitute group yip howls and as responses to either lone howls, group howls, or group yip howls. Dog communication includes specific types of howls that have been identified in dogs, including: The vocal repertoire of

880-415: A common man, Lycaon wants to test if he is really a god. To that end, he kills a Molossian hostage and serve his entrails to Zeus. Disgusted, the god turns Lycaon into a wolf. However, in other accounts of the legend, like that of Apollodorus' Bibliotheca , Zeus blasts him and his sons with thunderbolts as punishment. Pausanias also relates the story of an Arcadian man called Damarchus of Parrhasia, who

990-400: A diverse group of some 37 species ranging in size from the maned wolf with its long limbs to the short-legged bush dog. Modern canids inhabit forests, tundra, savannas, and deserts throughout tropical and temperate parts of the world. The evolutionary relationships between the species have been studied in the past using morphological approaches, but more recently, molecular studies have enabled

1100-409: A group form a dental monophyletic relationship with the extinct borophagines, with both groups having a bicuspid (two points) on the lower carnassial talonid , which gives this tooth an additional ability in mastication . This, together with the development of a distinct entoconid cusp and the broadening of the talonid of the first lower molar , and the corresponding enlargement of the talon of

1210-402: A hereditary condition manifesting itself in excessive hair growth. Woodward dismissed the possibility, as the rarity of the disease ruled it out from happening on a large scale, as werewolf cases were in medieval Europe. Woodward suggested rabies as the origin of werewolf beliefs, claiming remarkable similarities between the symptoms of that disease and some of the legends. Woodward focused on

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1320-436: A higher pitched howl, vibrating on two notes. When closing in on their prey, they emit a combination of a short bark and a howl. When howling together, wolves harmonize rather than chorus on the same note, thus creating the illusion of there being more wolves than there actually are. Lone wolves typically avoid howling in areas where other packs are present. Wolves from different geographic locations may howl in different fashions:

1430-487: A home range and sleep in the open, using their dens only for breeding and sometimes in bad weather. In most foxes, and in many of the true dogs, a male and female pair work together to hunt and to raise their young. Gray wolves and some of the other larger canids live in larger groups called packs . African wild dogs have packs which may consist of 20 to 40 animals and packs of fewer than about seven individuals may be incapable of successful reproduction. Hunting in packs has

1540-440: A home territory from which they drive out other conspecifics . Canids use urine scent marks to mark their food caches or warn trespassing individuals. Social behavior is also mediated by secretions from glands on the upper surface of the tail near its root and from the anal glands , preputial glands , and supracaudal glands . Canids as a group exhibit several reproductive traits that are uncommon among mammals as

1650-422: A larger trigonid indicating a hypercarnivore and a larger talonid indicating a more omnivorous diet. Because of its low variability, the length of the lower carnassial is used to provide an estimate of a carnivore's body size. A study of the estimated bite force at the canine teeth of a large sample of living and fossil mammalian predators, when adjusted for their body mass, found that for placental mammals

1760-445: A litter varies, with from one to 16 or more pups being born. The young are born small, blind and helpless and require a long period of parental care. They are kept in a den, most often dug into the ground, for warmth and protection. When the young begin eating solid food, both parents, and often other pack members, bring food back for them from the hunt. This is most often vomited up from the adult's stomach. Where such pack involvement in

1870-671: A marginal one, accusations of lycanthropy being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials. During the early period, accusations of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The case of Peter Stumpp (1589) led to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed werewolves , primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with persecution of wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650,

1980-424: A scavenger than a hunter; its molars appear to be adapted for crushing bones and it may have gone extinct as a result of the extinction of the large herbivorous animals on whose carcasses it relied. In 2015, a study of mitochondrial genome sequences and whole-genome nuclear sequences of African and Eurasian canids indicated that extant wolf-like canids have colonized Africa from Eurasia at least five times throughout

2090-632: A separate species, Canis anthus ( African golden wolf ). According to a phylogeny derived from nuclear sequences, the Eurasian golden jackal ( Canis aureus ) diverged from the wolf/coyote lineage 1.9  Mya , but the African golden wolf separated 1.3 Mya. Mitochondrial genome sequences indicated the Ethiopian wolf diverged from the wolf/coyote lineage slightly prior to that. Wild canids are found on every continent except Antarctica, and inhabit

2200-441: A series of dog-like yelps. Howling consists of a fundamental frequency that may lie between 150 and 780 Hz, and consists of up to 12 harmonically related overtones. The pitch usually remains constant or varies smoothly and may change direction as many as four or five times. Howls used for calling pack mates to a kill are long, smooth sounds similar to the beginning of the cry of a great horned owl . When pursuing prey, they emit

2310-551: A staple of modern depictions of werewolves and other monstrous dogs, leading to their central position in media such as The Howling media franchise , the 2012 Korean film, Howling , and the 2015 British film, Howl . Howling by humans has historically been associated with wildness and madness. The howling of wolves has been described as "perhaps the most evocative sound of any wild creature", alternately beautiful and dismal, and consequently recordings of howling have sometimes been incorporated into music. Although wolves howling at

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2420-496: A tail. After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression. One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait that is documented extensively, particularly in the Annales Medico-psychologiques in the 19th century. Various methods for becoming

2530-495: A whole. They are typically monogamous , provide paternal care to their offspring, have reproductive cycles with lengthy proestral and dioestral phases and have a copulatory tie during mating. They also retain adult offspring in the social group, suppressing the ability of these to breed while making use of the alloparental care they can provide to help raise the next generation. Most canid species are spontaneous ovulators, though maned wolves are induced ovulators . During

2640-404: A wide range of different habitats, including deserts , mountains , forests , and grasslands . They vary in size from the fennec fox, which may be as little as 24 cm (9.4 in) in length and weigh 0.6 kg (1.3 lb), to the gray wolf , which may be up to 160 cm (5.2 ft) long, and can weigh up to 79 kg (174 lb). Only a few species are arboreal —the gray fox ,

2750-648: A wolf, and Canis rufus appeared, possibly a direct descendant of C. edwardii . Around 0.8 Mya, Canis ambrusteri emerged in North America. A large wolf, it was found all over North and Central America and was eventually supplanted by the dire wolf, which then spread into South America during the Late Pleistocene. By 0.3 Mya, a number of subspecies of the gray wolf ( C. lupus ) had developed and had spread throughout Europe and northern Asia. The gray wolf colonized North America during

2860-726: A wolf, prowling, he crossed. For him in Polotsk they rang for matins early at St. Sophia the bells; but he heard the ringing in Kiev. The situation as described during the medieval period gives rise to the dual form of werewolf folklore in Early Modern Europe. On one hand the Germanic werewolf, which becomes associated with the witchcraft panic , and on the other hand the Slavic werewolf or vlkolak , which becomes associated with

2970-517: A woman has been reported who during episodes of acute psychosis complained of becoming four different species of animals. The beliefs classed together under lycanthropy are far from uniform, and the term is somewhat capriciously applied. The transformation may be temporary or permanent; the were-animal may be the man himself metamorphosed; may be his double whose activity leaves the real man to all appearance unchanged; may be his soul , which goes forth seeking whomever it may devour, leaving its body in

3080-521: A year a man was chosen by lot from the Anthus' clan. The chosen man was escorted to a marsh in the area, where he hung his clothes into an oak tree, swam across the marsh and transformed into a wolf, joining a pack for nine years. If during these nine years he refrained from tasting human flesh, he returned to the same marsh, swam back, and recovered his previous human form, with nine years added to his appearance. Ovid also relates stories of men who roamed

3190-713: Is McCone (1987). A few references to men changing into wolves are found in Ancient Greek literature and Folklore . Herodotus , in his Histories , wrote that according to what the Scythians and the Greeks settled in Scythia told him, the Neuri , which was a tribe to the north-east of Scythia , were all transformed into wolves once every year for several days and then changed back to their human shape. He added that he

3300-595: Is a widespread concept in European folklore , existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the medieval period . From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs spread to the New World with colonialism . Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in witches , during the Late Middle Ages and

3410-486: Is an individual who can shape-shift into a wolf , or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction, often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf, with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon . Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy , are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228). The werewolf

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3520-716: Is explored in Sabine Baring-Gould 's work The Book of Werewolves is that werewolf legends may have been used to explain serial killings . Perhaps the most infamous example is the case of Peter Stumpp , executed in 1589, the German farmer, and alleged serial killer and cannibal , also known as the Werewolf of Bedburg. Common Turkic folklore holds a different, reverential light to the werewolf legends in that Turkic Central Asian shamans after performing long and arduous rites would voluntarily be able to transform into

3630-649: Is inferred from the Middle Low German variant and was most likely borrowed into Old Norman garwa(l)f ~ garo(u)l , with regular Germanic – Romance correspondence w- / g- (cf. William / Guillaume , Wales / Galles , etc.). The Proto-Slavic noun * vьlko-dlakь , meaning "wolf-haired" (cf. * dlaka , "animal hair", "fur"), can be reconstructed from Serbian vukòdlak , Slovenian vołkodlȃk , and Czech vlkodlak , although formal variations in Slavic languages (* vьrdl(j)ak , * vьlkdolk , * vьlklak ) and

3740-414: Is most commonly portrayed as being indistinguishable from ordinary wolves, except for the fact that it has no tail (a trait thought characteristic of witches in animal form), is often larger, and retains human eyes and a voice. According to some Swedish accounts, the werewolf could be distinguished from a regular wolf by the fact that it would run on three legs, stretching the fourth one backwards to look like

3850-482: Is not convinced by the story but the locals swear to its truth. This tale was also mentioned by Pomponius Mela . In the second century BC, the Greek geographer Pausanias related the story of King Lycaon of Arcadia, who was transformed into a wolf because he had sacrificed a child in the altar of Zeus Lycaeus. In the version of the legend told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses , when Zeus visits Lycaon disguised as

3960-403: Is only used for cutting. They use their molars for grinding except for the lower first molar m1 (the lower carnassial) that has evolved for both cutting and grinding depending on the canid's dietary adaptation. On the lower carnassial, the trigonid is used for slicing and the talonid is used for grinding. The ratio between the trigonid and the talonid indicates a carnivore's dietary habits, with

4070-705: Is similar, prompting early European explorers of the Americas to confuse the animals. One record from 1750 in Kaskaskia, Illinois , written by a local priest, noted that the "wolves" encountered there were smaller and less daring than European wolves. Another account from the early 1800s in Edwards County mentioned wolves howling at night, though these were likely coyotes. In coyotes, "bark howls" may serve as both long-distance threat vocalizations and alarm calls. The sound known as 'wow-oo-wow' has been described as

4180-510: The Beringian land bridge allowed members of the genus Eucyon a means to enter Asia from North America and they continued on to colonize Europe. The Canis , Urocyon , and Vulpes genera developed from canids from North America , where the canine radiation began. The success of these canids was related to the development of lower carnassials that were capable of both mastication and shearing. Around 5 million years ago, some of

4290-467: The Caninae , and the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae . The Caninae are known as canines, and include domestic dogs , wolves , coyotes , foxes , jackals and other species. Canids are found on all continents except Antarctica , having arrived independently or accompanied by human beings over extended periods of time. Canids vary in size from the 2-metre-long (6.6 ft) gray wolf to

4400-708: The Late Miocene or to South America until the Late Pliocene . This cladogram shows the phylogenetic position of canids within Caniformia , based on fossil finds: (bears, procyonids, pinnipeds, etc.) [REDACTED] (various † Miacis spp.) [REDACTED] ( Mesocyon , Enhydrocyon , Hesperocyon , and other basal canines, e.g. Cynodictis ) [REDACTED] ( Aelurodon , cynarctins , and others) [REDACTED] (all modern canids and extinct relatives) [REDACTED] The Canidae are

4510-657: The Old Brittonic place-name Viroconium (< * wiroconion , 'place of man-dogs, i.e. werewolves'), the Old Irish noun ferchu ('male dog, fierce dog'), and the medieval personal names Guurci ( Old Welsh ) and Gurki ( Old Breton ). Wolves were metaphorically designated as 'dogs' in Celtic cultures. The modern term lycanthropy comes from Ancient Greek lukanthrōpía (λυκανθρωπία), itself from lukánthrōpos (λυκάνθρωπος), meaning 'wolf-man'. Ancient writers used

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4620-468: The early modern period . Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland , especially the Valais and Vaud , in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century. The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the " witch-hunt " phenomenon, albeit

4730-409: The mandible teeth . Teeth are numbered using one side of the mouth and from the front of the mouth to the back. In carnivores , the upper premolar P4 and the lower molar m1 form the carnassials that are used together in a scissor-like action to shear the muscle and tendon of prey. Canids use their premolars for cutting and crushing except for the upper fourth premolar P4 (the upper carnassial) that

4840-600: The maned wolf ( Chrysocyon brachyurus ), the short-eared dog ( Atelocynus microtis ), the bush dog ( Speothos venaticus ), the crab-eating fox ( Cerdocyon thous ), and the South American foxes ( Lycalopex  spp.). The monophyly of this group has been established by molecular means. During the Pleistocene , the North American wolf line appeared, with Canis edwardii , clearly identifiable as

4950-441: The meeting of both eyebrows at the bridge of the nose, curved fingernails, low-set ears and a swinging stride. One method of identifying a werewolf in its human form was to cut the flesh of the accused, under the pretense that fur would be seen within the wound. A Russian superstition recalls a werewolf can be recognized by bristles under the tongue. The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture. It

5060-518: The werewolf . Virgil , in his poetic work Eclogues , wrote about a man called Moeris, who used herbs and poisons picked in his native Pontus to turn himself into a wolf. An examination of Virgil's work notes that "[t]he howling of wolves is portentous; it is cited among the baleful omens at the assassination of Julius Caesar and the advent of renewed civil strife". In prose , the Satyricon , written circa AD 60 by Gaius Petronius Arbiter , one of

5170-550: The "wolf-men" of Germanic paganism had carried, the associated beliefs and practices had been successfully repressed after Christianization, or if they persisted, they did so outside of the sphere of literacy available to us. We have sources other than those mentioned above. Such examples of werewolves in Ireland and the British Isles can be found in the work of the 9th century Welsh monk Nennius . Female werewolves appear in

5280-636: The 20th century became part of the horror and fantasy genre of modern popular culture . The Modern English werewolf descends from the Old English wer(e)wulf , which is a cognate of Middle Dutch weerwolf , Middle Low German warwulf , werwulf , Middle High German werwolf , and West Frisian waer-ûl(e) . These terms are generally derived from a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as *wira-wulfaz ('man-wolf'), itself from an earlier Pre-Germanic form * wiro-wulpos . An alternative reconstruction, * wazi-wulfaz ('wolf-clothed'), would bring

5390-763: The 20th century, wolf attacks on humans were an occasional, but still widespread, feature of life in Europe. Some scholars have suggested that it was inevitable that wolves, being the most feared predators in Europe, were projected into the folklore of evil shapeshifters. This is said to be corroborated by the fact that areas devoid of wolves typically use different kinds of predator to fill the niche; werehyenas in Africa, weretigers in India, as well as werepumas (" runa uturuncu ") and werejaguars (" yaguaraté-abá " or " tigre-capiango ") in southern South America. An idea

5500-510: The 24-centimetre-long (9.4 in) fennec fox . The body forms of canids are similar, typically having long muzzles, upright ears, teeth adapted for cracking bones and slicing flesh, long legs, and bushy tails. They are mostly social animals , living together in family units or small groups and behaving co-operatively. Typically, only the dominant pair in a group breeds and a litter of young are reared annually in an underground den. Canids communicate by scent signals and vocalizations. One canid,

5610-854: The Elder. Augustine explains that "It is very generally believed that by certain witches spells men may be turned into wolves..." Physical metamorphosis was also mentioned in the Capitulatum Episcopi , attributed to the Council of Ancyra in the 4th century, which became the Church's doctrinal text in relation to magic, witches, and transformations such as those of werewolves. The Capitulatum Episcopi states that "Whoever believes that anything can be...transformed into another species or likeness, except by God Himself...is beyond doubt an infidel.' In these works of Roman writers, werewolves often receive

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5720-685: The French use the term " gerulfi" to describe what the English call "werewolves". Melion and Biclarel are two anonymous lais that share the theme of a werewolf knight being betrayed by his wife. The German word werwolf was recorded by Burchard von Worms in the 11th century and Bertold of Regensburg in the 13th century, but is not recorded in all of medieval German poetry or fiction. While Baring-Gould argues that references to werewolves were rare in England, presumably because whatever significance

5830-553: The Germanic compound closer to the Slavic meaning, with other semantic parallels in Old Norse úlfheðnar ('wolf-skinned') and úlfheðinn ('wolf-coat'), Old Irish luchthonn ('wolf-skin'), and Sanskrit Vṛkājina ('Wolf-skin'). The Norse branch underwent taboo modifications , with Old Norse vargúlfr (only attested as a translation of Old French garwaf ~ garwal(f) from Marie's lay of Bisclavret ) replacing * wiraz ('man') with vargr ('wolf, outlaw'), perhaps under

5940-765: The Irish work Tales of the Elders , from the 12th century, and Welsh werewolves in the 12th to 13th century work, Mabinogion . Germanic pagan traditions associated with wolf-men persisted longest in the Scandinavian Viking Age . Harald I of Norway is known to have had a body of Úlfhednar (wolf-coated [men]), which are mentioned in the Vatnsdœla, Haraldskvæði, and the Völsunga saga , and resemble some werewolf legends. The Úlfhednar were fighters similar to

6050-585: The Moon is a myth, it is also one that has made its way into human imagery of wolves, as with the Three Wolf Moon t-shirt meme. Canidae Canidae ( / ˈ k æ n ɪ d iː / ; from Latin, canis , " dog ") is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans , colloquially referred to as dogs , and constitutes a clade . A member of this family is also called a canid ( / ˈ k eɪ n ɪ d / ). The family includes three subfamilies :

6160-639: The Old World Eucyon evolved into the first members of Canis , In the Pliocene , around 4–5 Mya, Canis lepophagus appeared in North America. This was small and sometimes coyote-like. Others were wolf-like. C. latrans (the coyote) is theorized to descend from C. lepophagus . The formation of the Isthmus of Panama , about 3 Mya, joined South America to North America, allowing canids to invade South America , where they diversified. However,

6270-506: The Pliocene and Pleistocene, which is consistent with fossil evidence suggesting that much of African canid fauna diversity resulted from the immigration of Eurasian ancestors, likely coincident with Plio-Pleistocene climatic oscillations between arid and humid conditions. When comparing the African and Eurasian golden jackals, the study concluded that the African specimens represented a distinct monophyletic lineage that should be recognized as

6380-473: The Slavic "werewolf" tales. The 11th-century Belarusian Prince Vseslav of Polotsk was considered to have been a werewolf, capable of moving at superhuman speeds, as recounted in The Tale of Igor's Campaign : Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan . The path of Great Sun, as

6490-859: The Swiss Vaud region, werewolves were convicted in 1602 and in 1624. A treatise by a Vaud pastor in 1653, however, argued that lycanthropy was purely an illusion. After this, the only further record from the Vaud dates to 1670. A boy claimed he and his mother could change themselves into wolves, which was not taken seriously. At the beginning of the 17th century witchcraft was prosecuted by James I of England , who regarded "warwoolfes" as victims of delusion induced by "a natural superabundance of melancholic". After 1650, belief in lycanthropy had mostly disappeared from French-speaking Europe, as evidenced in Diderot's Encyclopedia , which attributed reports of lycanthropy to

6600-597: The advantage that larger prey items can be tackled. Some species form packs or live in small family groups depending on the circumstances, including the type of available food. In most species, some individuals live on their own. Within a canid pack, there is a system of dominance so that the strongest, most experienced animals lead the pack. In most cases, the dominant male and female are the only pack members to breed. Canids communicate with each other by scent signals , by visual clues and gestures, and by vocalizations such as growls, barks, and howls . In most cases, groups have

6710-487: The berserkers, though they dressed in wolf hides rather than those of bears and were reputed to channel the spirits of these animals to enhance effectiveness in battle. These warriors were resistant to pain and killed viciously in battle, much like wild animals. Úlfhednar and berserkers are closely associated with the Norse god Odin . The Scandinavian traditions of this period may have spread to Kievan Rus' , giving rise to

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6820-471: The bite force at the canines was greatest in the extinct dire wolf (163), followed among the modern canids by the four hypercarnivores that often prey on animals larger than themselves: the African wild dog (142), the gray wolf (136), the dhole (112), and the dingo (108). The bite force at the carnassials showed a similar trend to the canines. A predator's largest prey size is strongly influenced by its biomechanical limits. Most canids have 42 teeth , with

6930-423: The characters, Niceros, tells a story at a banquet about a friend who turned into a wolf (chs. 61–62). He describes the incident as follows, "When I look for my buddy I see he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside... He pees in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turns into a wolf!... after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods." Such depictions have become

7040-438: The closely related island fox and the raccoon dog habitually climb trees. All canids have a similar basic form, as exemplified by the gray wolf, although the relative length of muzzle, limbs, ears, and tail vary considerably between species. With the exceptions of the bush dog, the raccoon dog and some domestic dog breeds , canids have relatively long legs and lithe bodies, adapted for chasing prey. The tails are bushy and

7150-754: The codes aim to ensure that "...the madly audacious werewolf do not too widely devastate, nor bite too many of the spiritual flock." Liutprand of Cremona reports a rumor that Bajan, son of Simeon I of Bulgaria , could use magic to turn himself into a wolf. The works of Augustine of Hippo had a large influence on the development of Western Christianity, and were widely read by churchmen of the medieval period. These churchmen occasionally discussed werewolves in their works. Famous examples include Gerald of Wales 's Werewolves of Ossory , found in his Topographica Hibernica , and in Gervase of Tilbury's Otia Imperiala , both written for royal audiences. Gervase reveals to

7260-567: The concept of the revenant or vampire. The eastern werewolf-vampire is found in the folklore of Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary, Romania and the Balkans, while the western werewolf-sorcerer is found in France, German-speaking Europe and in the Baltic. Being a werewolf was a common accusation in witch trials. It featured in the Valais witch trials , one of the earliest such trials, in

7370-511: The context of Christianity, although stories of humans turning into wolves take their roots in earlier pre-Christian beliefs. Their underlying common origin can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European mythology , where lycanthropy is reconstructed as an aspect of the initiation of the kóryos warrior class, which may have included a cult focused on dogs and wolves identified with an age grade of young, unmarried warriors. The standard comparative overview of this aspect of Indo-European mythology

7480-508: The coyote-sized Mesocyon of the Oligocene (38–24 Mya). These early canids probably evolved for the fast pursuit of prey in a grassland habitat; they resembled modern viverrids in appearance. Hesperocyonines eventually became extinct in the middle Miocene. One of the early Hesperocyonines, the genus Hesperocyon , gave rise to Archaeocyon and Leptocyon . These branches led to the borophagine and canine radiations . Around 8 Mya,

7590-551: The day. Their main vocals consist of loud, deep, guttural growls or "howls". Howler monkeys are widely considered to be the loudest land animals. According to Guinness Book of World Records , their vocalizations can be heard clearly for 3 mi (4.8 km). The function of howling is thought to relate to intergroup spacing and territory protection, as well as possibly to mate-guarding. Human accounts of wolf behavior are typified by depictions of howling, and this has been incorporated into fictional and mythical representations, such as

7700-437: The domestic dog, originated from a symbiotic relationship with Upper Paleolithic humans and is one of the most widely kept domestic animals . In the history of the carnivores, the family Canidae is represented by the two extinct subfamilies designated as Hesperocyoninae and Borophaginae, and the extant subfamily Caninae. This subfamily includes all living canids and their most recent fossil relatives. All living canids as

7810-482: The ear). Prohesperocyon probably had slightly longer limbs than its predecessors, and also had parallel and closely touching toes which differ markedly from the splayed arrangements of the digits in bears . Canidae soon divided into three subfamilies, each of which diverged during the Eocene: Hesperocyoninae (about 39.74–15 Mya), Borophaginae (about 34–32 Mya), and Caninae (about 34–30 Mya;

7920-401: The feeding of the litter occurs, the breeding success rate is higher than is the case where females split from the group and rear their pups in isolation. Young canids may take a year to mature and learn the skills they need to survive. In some species, such as the African wild dog, male offspring usually remain in the natal pack, while females disperse as a group and join another small group of

8030-531: The final cases taking place in the early 18th century in Carinthia and Styria . After the end of the witch trials, the werewolf became of interest in folklore studies and in the emerging Gothic horror genre. Werewolf fiction as a genre has premodern precedents in medieval romances (e.g., Bisclavret and Guillaume de Palerme ) and developed in the 18th century out of the "semi-fictional" chapbook tradition. The trappings of horror literature in

8140-529: The first half of the 15th century. In 1539, Martin Luther used the form beerwolf to describe a hypothetical ruler worse than a tyrant who must be resisted. In ' Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus ' (1555), Olaus Magnus describes (Book 18, Chapter 45) an annual assembly of werewolves near the Lithuania-Courland border. The participants, including Lithuanian nobility and werewolves from

8250-404: The first identifiable member of the dog family had arisen. Named Prohesperocyon wilsoni , its fossils have been found in southwest Texas. The chief features which identify it as a canid include the loss of the upper third molar (part of a trend toward a more shearing bite), and the structure of the middle ear which has an enlarged bulla (the hollow bony structure protecting the delicate parts of

8360-437: The forefeet, but the pollex (thumb) is reduced and does not reach the ground. On the hind feet are four toes, but in some domestic dogs, a fifth vestigial toe, known as a dewclaw , is sometimes present, but has no anatomical connection to the rest of the foot. In some species, slightly curved nails are non-retractile and more-or-less blunt while other species have sharper, partially-retractile claws. The canine penis contains

8470-588: The fox, though substantial, includes fewer howling behaviors. At the age of about one month, fox kits can emit a high-pitched howl as an explosive call intended to be threatening to intruders or other cubs. Outside of canines, the howler monkey is also noted for behavior characterized as howling. As their name suggests, vocal communication forms an important part of their social behavior . They each have an enlarged basihyal or hyoid bone , which helps them make their loud vocalizations. Group males generally call at dawn and dusk, as well as interspersed times throughout

8580-472: The gray wolf, the coyote and the red fox, for sport. Canids such as the dhole are now endangered in the wild because of persecution, habitat loss, a depletion of ungulate prey species and transmission of diseases from domestic dogs. Werewolf In folklore , a werewolf (from Old English werwulf  'man-wolf'), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος , lykánthrōpos , 'wolf-human'),

8690-497: The ground. However, based on skeletal details of the neck, at least some of the Borophaginae (such as Aelurodon ) are believed to have lacked this ligament. Dentition relates to the arrangement of teeth in the mouth, with the dental notation for the upper-jaw teeth using the upper-case letters I to denote incisors , C for canines , P for premolars , and M for molars , and the lower-case letters i, c, p and m to denote

8800-439: The howls of European wolves are much more protracted and melodious than those of North American wolves, whose howls are louder and have a stronger emphasis on the first syllable. One variation of the howl is accompanied by a high pitched whine, which precedes a lunging attack. Scent marking is more effective at advertising territory than howling and is often used in combination with scratch marks. The howling of wolves and coyotes

8910-725: The humanoid "Kurtadam" (literally meaning "Wolfman"). Since the wolf was the totemic ancestor animal of the Turkic peoples, they would be respectful of any shaman who was in such a form. Some modern researchers have tried to explain the reports of werewolf behaviour with recognised medical conditions. In 1963, Dr Lee Illis of Guy's Hospital in London wrote a paper entitled On Porphyria and the Aetiology of Werewolves , in which he argues that historical accounts on werewolves could have been referring to victims of congenital porphyria , stating how

9020-406: The idea that being bitten by a werewolf could result in the victim turning into one, which suggested the idea of a transmittable disease like rabies. However, the idea that lycanthropy could be transmitted in this way is not part of the original myths and legends, and only appears in relatively recent beliefs. Lycanthropy can also be met with as the main content of a delusion, for example, the case of

9130-475: The incident as follows, "When I look for my buddy I see he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside... He pees in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turns into a wolf!... after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods." Early Christian authors also mentioned werewolves. In The City of God , Augustine of Hippo gives an account similar to that found in Pliny

9240-470: The influence of the Old French expression leus warous ~ lous garous (modern loup-garou ), which literally means 'wolf-werewolf'. The modern Norse form varulv (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) was either borrowed from Middle Low German werwulf , or else derived from an unattested Old Norse *varulfr , posited as the regular descendant of Proto-Germanic * wira-wulfaz . An Old Frankish form *werwolf

9350-615: The investigation of phylogenetics relationships. In some species, genetic divergence has been suppressed by the high level of gene flow between different populations and where the species have hybridized, large hybrid zones exist. Carnivorans evolved after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Around 50 million years ago, or earlier, in the Paleocene , the Carnivora split into two main divisions: caniform (dog-like) and feliform (cat-like). By 40 Mya,

9460-559: The last common ancestor of the South American canids lived in North America some 4 Mya and more than one incursion across the new land bridge is likely given the fact that more than one lineage is present in South America. Two North American lineages found in South America are the gray fox ( Urocyon cinereoargentus ) and the now-extinct dire wolf ( Aenocyon dirus ). Besides these, there are species endemic to South America:

9570-488: The late Rancholabrean era across the Bering land bridge, with at least three separate invasions, with each one consisting of one or more different Eurasian gray wolf clades. MtDNA studies have shown that there are at least four extant C. lupus lineages. The dire wolf shared its habitat with the gray wolf, but became extinct in a large-scale extinction event that occurred around 11,500 years ago. It may have been more of

9680-897: The late attestation of some forms pose difficulties in tracing the origin of the term. The Greek Vrykolakas and Romanian Vîrcolac , designating vampire-like creatures in Balkan folklores, were borrowed from Slavic languages. The same form is found in other non-Slavic languages of the region, such as Albanian vurvolak and Turkish vurkolak. Bulgarian vьrkolak and Church Slavonic vurkolak may be interpreted as back-borrowings from Greek. The name vurdalak (вурдалак; 'ghoul, revenant') first appeared in Russian poet Alexander Pushkin 's work Pesni , published in 1835. The source of Pushkin's distinctive form remains debated in scholarship. A Proto-Celtic noun * wiro-kū , meaning 'man-dog', has been reconstructed from Celtiberian uiroku ,

9790-545: The length and quality of the pelage vary with the season. The muzzle portion of the skull is much more elongated than that of the cat family. The zygomatic arches are wide, there is a transverse lambdoidal ridge at the rear of the cranium and in some species, a sagittal crest running from front to back. The bony orbits around the eye never form a complete ring and the auditory bullae are smooth and rounded. Females have three to seven pairs of mammae . All canids are digitigrade , meaning they walk on their toes. The tip of

9900-422: The material limbs of any animal.' Marie de France 's poem Bisclavret (c. 1200) is another example, in which the eponymous nobleman Bisclavret, for reasons not described, had to transform into a wolf every week. When his treacherous wife stole his clothing needed to restore his human form, he escaped the king's wolf hunt by imploring the king for mercy, and accompanied the king thereafter. His behavior at court

10010-464: The moon have no effect on wolf vocalization, and despite popular belief, wolves do not howl at the Moon . Wolf howls are generally indistinguishable from those of large dogs. Male wolves give voice through an octave , passing to a deep bass with a stress on " O ", while females produce a modulated nasal baritone with stress on " U ". Pups almost never howl, while yearling wolves produce howls ending in

10120-629: The name versipellis ("turnskin"). Augustine instead uses the phrase "in lupum fuisse mutatum" (changed into the form of a wolf) to describe the physical metamorphosis of werewolves, which is similar to phrases used in the medieval period. There is evidence of widespread belief in werewolves in medieval Europe. This evidence spans much of the Continent, as well as the British Isles. Werewolves were mentioned in Medieval law codes, such as that of King Cnut , whose Ecclesiastical Ordinances inform us that

10230-487: The nose is always naked, as are the cushioned pads on the soles of the feet. These latter consist of a single pad behind the tip of each toe and a more-or-less three-lobed central pad under the roots of the digits. Hairs grow between the pads and in the Arctic fox the sole of the foot is densely covered with hair at some times of the year. With the exception of the four-toed African wild dog ( Lycaon pictus ), five toes are on

10340-536: The only surviving subfamily). Members of each subfamily showed an increase in body mass with time and some exhibited specialized hypercarnivorous diets that made them prone to extinction. By the Oligocene , all three subfamilies (Hesperocyoninae, Borophaginae, and Caninae) had appeared in the fossil record of North America. The earliest and most primitive branch of the Canidae was Hesperocyoninae, which included

10450-544: The opposite sex to form a new pack. One canid, the domestic dog , entered into a partnership with humans a long time ago. The dog was the first domesticated species. The archaeological record shows the first undisputed dog remains buried beside humans 14,700 years ago, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago. These dates imply that the earliest dogs arose in the time of human hunter-gatherers and not agriculturists . The fact that wolves are pack animals with cooperative social structures may have been

10560-558: The proestral period, increased levels of estradiol make the female attractive to the male. There is a rise in progesterone during the estral phase when female is receptive. Following this, the level of estradiol fluctuates and there is a lengthy dioestrous phase during which the female is pregnant. Pseudo-pregnancy often occurs in canids that have ovulated but failed to conceive. A period of anestrus follows pregnancy or pseudo-pregnancy, there being only one oestral period during each breeding season. Small and medium-sized canids mostly have

10670-653: The reader that belief in such transformations (he also mentions women turning into cats and into snakes) was widespread across Europe; he uses the phrase "que ita dinoscuntur" when discussing these metamorphoses, which translates to "it is known". Gervase, who was writing in Germany, also tells the reader that the transformation of men into wolves cannot be easily dismissed, for "...in England we have often seen men change into wolves" ("Vidimus enim frequenter in Anglia per lunationes homines in lupos mutari..."). Further evidence of

10780-613: The reason that the relationship developed. Humans benefited from the canid's loyalty, cooperation, teamwork, alertness and tracking abilities, while the wolf may have benefited from the use of weapons to tackle larger prey and the sharing of food. Humans and dogs may have evolved together. Among canids, only the gray wolf has widely been known to prey on humans. Nonetheless, at least two records of coyotes killing humans have been published, and at least two other reports of golden jackals killing children. Human beings have trapped and hunted some canid species for their fur and some, especially

10890-519: The second of Gervase of Tilbury's werewolf stories, about a werewolf by the name of Chaucevaire. Marie also reveals to us the existence of werewolf belief in Breton and Norman France, by telling us the Franco-Norman word for werewolf: garwulf, which, she explains, are common in that part of France, where "...many men turned into werewolves". Gervase supports this terminology when he tells us that

11000-600: The surrounding areas, gather to test their strength by attempting to jump over a castle wall's ruins. Those who succeed are regarded as strong, while weaker participants are punished with whippings. There were numerous reports of werewolf attacks – and consequent court trials – in 16th-century France. In some of the cases there was clear evidence against the accused of murder and cannibalism , but no association with wolves. In other cases people have been terrified by such creatures, such as that of Gilles Garnier in Dole in 1573, who

11110-468: The symptoms of photosensitivity , reddish teeth, and psychosis could have been grounds for accusing a person of being a werewolf. This is argued against by Woodward, who points out how mythological werewolves were almost invariably portrayed as resembling true wolves, and that their human forms were rarely physically conspicuous as porphyria victims. Others have pointed out the possibility of historical werewolves having been people with hypertrichosis ,

11220-476: The term solely in the context of clinical lycanthropy , a condition in which the patient imagined himself to be a wolf. Modern writers later used lycanthrope as a synonym of werewolf , referring to a person who, according to medieval superstition, could assume the form of wolves. The European motif of the devilish werewolf devouring human flesh harks back to a common development during the Middle Ages in

11330-503: The time of Lycaon. If they abstain from tasting human flesh while being wolves, they would be restored to human form nine years later, but if they do not abstain, they would remain wolves forever. Lykos (Λύκος) of Athens was a wolf-shaped herο, whose shrine stood by the jurycourt, and the first jurors were named after him. Pliny the Elder likewise recounts another tale of lycanthropy. Quoting Euanthes, he mentions that in Arcadia , once

11440-530: The upper first molar and reduction of its parastyle distinguish these late Cenozoic canids and are the essential differences that identify their clade. The cat-like Feliformia and dog-like Caniformia emerged within the Carnivoramorpha around 45–42 Mya (million years ago). The Canidae first appeared in North America during the Late Eocene (37.8-33.9 Mya). They did not reach Eurasia until

11550-560: The widespread belief in werewolves and other human-animal transformations can be seen in theological attacks made against such beliefs. Conrad of Hirsau , writing in the 11th century, forbids the reading of stories in which a person's reason is obscured following such a transformation. Conrad specifically refers to the tales of Ovid in his tract. Pseudo-Augustine, writing in the 12th century, follows Augustine of Hippo's argument that no physical transformation can be made by any but God, stating that "...the body corporeally [cannot], be changed into

11660-417: The woods of Arcadia in the form of wolves. Virgil , in his poetic work Eclogues , wrote about a man called Moeris, who used herbs and poisons picked in his native Pontus to turn himself into a wolf. In prose , the Satyricon , written circa AD 60 by Gaius Petronius Arbiter , one of the characters, Niceros, tells a story at a banquet about a friend who turned into a wolf (chs. 61–62). He describes

11770-538: Was convicted of being a werewolf. A peak of attention to lycanthropy came in the late 16th to early 17th century, as part of the European witch-hunts . A number of treatises on werewolves were written in France during 1595 and 1615. In 1598, werewolves were sighted in Anjou . In 1602, Henry Boguet wrote a lengthy chapter about werewolves. In 1603, a teenage werewolf was sentenced to life imprisonment in Bordeaux . In

11880-405: Was gentle, until his wife and her new husband appeared at court, so much so that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed. This lai (a type of Breton sung-poem) follows many themes found within other werewolf tales – the removal of clothing and attempting to refrain from the consumption of human flesh can be found in Pliny the Elder, as well as in

11990-616: Was the Holy Roman Empire . At least nine works on lycanthropy were printed in Germany between 1649 and 1679. In the Austrian and Bavarian Alps, belief in werewolves persisted well into the 18th century. As late as in 1853, in Galicia , northwestern Spain, Manuel Blanco Romasanta was judged and condemned as the author of a number of murders, but he claimed to be not guilty because of his condition of lobishome , werewolf. Until

12100-430: Was turned into a wolf after tasting the entrails of a human child sacrificed to Zeus Lycaeus. He was restored to human form 10 years later and went on to become an Olympic champion. This tale is also recounted by Pliny the Elder , who calls the man Demaenetus quoting Agriopas . According to Pausanias, this was not a one-off event, but that men have been transformed into wolves during the sacrifices to Zeus Lycaeus since

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