www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 325 3 JULY 2009 5 COVER The Phoenix spacecraft on the martian polar plains (68°N latitude). The footpad at the bottom is about 1 meter below the spacecraft deck seen at the lower left. Overlaid images are trenches dug to either nearly pure water ice or ice-cemented soil. Analyses of samples taken from these trenches give clues to the history of the region. Results...

The skin, feathers, and fur of most wild animals are pigmented with melanin, and these black, brown, gray, rufous, and buff colors serve many evolutionary functions. Melanic patterns – alone or in combination with other traits – can act as bold signals of fighting ability, can amplify other signaling characteristics, or, as is most commonly recognized, can create a camouflaged appearance. In ma...

Despite recent technological advances in DNA sequencing, incomplete coverage remains to be an issue in population genomics, in particular for studies that include ancient samples. Here, we describe an approach to estimate population divergence times for non-overlapping sequence data that is based on probabilities of different genealogical topologies under a structured coalescent model. We show ...

Recent reports have indicated that some North African golden jackals possess gray wolflike mitochondrial DNA sequences [1,2]. The authors have suggested that those individuals may represent a previously undescribed gray wolf lineage present in North Africa, thus supporting previous claims based on the usual morphology and size of some canid specimens from this region [3]. Conceivably, the recen...

Stable isotope analysis of diet has become a common tool in conservation research. However, the multiple sources of uncertainty inherent in this analysis framework involve consequences that have not been thoroughly addressed. Uncertainty arises from the choice of trophic discrimination factors, and for Bayesian stable isotope mixing models (SIMMs), the specification of prior information; the co...

In this study, we focused on determining the genetic variability of Turkish gray wolves and also to reveal phylogenetic relationships of the Eurasian wolf populations using mitochondrial DNA sequences. Partial mitochondrial DNA sequences (440 bp) were obtained from 12 Turkish gray wolves, including D-loop region (332 bp). We found seven D-loop haplotypes (332 bp) among the 12 Turkish gray wolve...

Using artificial insemination we attempted to produce hybrids between captive, male, western, gray wolves (Canis lupus) and female, western coyotes (Canis latrans) to determine whether their gametes would be compatible and the coyotes could produce and nurture offspring. The results contribute new information to an ongoing controversy over whether the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) is a valid uniq...

The ultimate goal of the Mexican gray wolf Canis lupus baileyi captive management program is reintroduction of healthy individuals into wild habitats. To this end, zoo population managers work to provide not only for the physical well-being but also for the genetic health of these animals. However, the very limited genetic founder base, exacerbated by breeding within three distinct lineages, re...

Recently, we reported the three wolves cloning with normal karyotype from somatic cells of endangered male gray wolves (Canis lupus), but one wolf had female external genitalia. In this study, we conducted further clinical, histological, and genetic analyses. This cloned wolf had a normal uterus but developed ovotestis. Through molecular analysis of the SRY gene, a mutation in the coding sequen...