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168aKingdom: Animals (Animalia)

Phylum (Phulum): Chordates (Chordata)

Subphylum (Subphulum): Vertebrates (Vertebrata)

Class (Classa): Mammals (Mammalia)

Order (Ordo): Carnivores (Carnivora)

Family (Familia): Dogs (Canidae)

Genus (Genus): Canines (Canis)

Species (Species): Coyote (Canis latrans)

 

The word coyote comes from Aztec word coyotl which means barking dog. It is also known as or Prairie Wolf since they are usually bound to grassy habitats, but it is also called The North American Jackal.

Appearance

Coyotes are twice as small as wolves. They are up to 55 cm tall, weigh 7–20 kg and around one meter long. They have narrow snout, big, erect ears and long legs, while the tail has black tip.

Lifestyle

Most of them do not live in packs, but, the same as jackal, in pairs or smaller family groups.

As wolves also do, they use their territory to hunt and mate. In any given case, their territories are much smaller than the wolves', most commonly 14 to 65 square kilometres. The pair stays together for life. They mate in the late winter. The litter usually has around 5 cubs.

They are considered one of the fastest canids. They can develop 40–50 km/h speed without any effort.

Food

They eat same things as wolves do but it is rare to see them together. Yet, the coyote diet is more diverse than wolf's. Mostly, they hunt rabbits and rodents which makes them useful to farmers, for their farmland. But they also feed on deer, fish, frogs, fruits, grass, berries, insects, squirrels...

Habitat

Coyote lives on only one continent – North America. They populate the southernmost part of the continent all the way to Alaska and northern Canada. They inhabit different types of terrains, mostly grass ones. They can be found in the mountains, woods, but also the deserts and wolds.