Is it true wolves are closer to cats than dogs, in some way or other?

Question

A friend told me this, and another one agreed with him. Even though they mate with dogs, vulpines are in fact more like felines than canines. I was somewhat confused. Can anybody shed any light on this?

Answer 1

Wolves are the dog's ancestor. How would that make them closer to cats?

Now vulpines, a fox, I'd agree can sometimes act more cat-like than a wolf. However, it is still part of the Canidae family and therefore still closer to dogs than cats.

Answer 2

Wolves are 100% canine. All modern dogs are descended from wolves. Your friend is wrong.

Answer 3

your friends are so stupid it isn't even funny.

Answer 4

This is not true. Dogs, wolves, coyotes and foxes are all part of the canidae family.

Cats are part of the Felidae family.

Members of the same family are closer related. This means your friends are wrong. Sorry.

Answer 5

Absolutely not.  The domesticated dog is simply a subspecies of wolves  and can successfully interbreed with them.  The domesticated dog is much more closely related to other canines like dingos, foxes and coyotes than it is to domesticated cats, which are closer to lions and bobcats.  All dogs and cats belong to the order Carnivora, which also includes bears and seals.  Dogs and cats are more closely related to each other than they are to other non-Carnivoran mammals, like humans, dolphins and big horn sheep.

Answer 6

your friend is confused... dogs and wolves are both Canis lupus. look it up. they are the exact same animal genetically. dogs are called "Canis lupus familiaris" if you want to get technical.

vulpines are foxes, not wolves. i've heard the thing about where somehow foxes are more like cats. but seeing as how foxes, wolves and dogs are all canids, and cats are feline, i don't see how it lines up.

i think there is confusion with the canids, because there are 2 major groups.. true canines, which are the wolves and dogs, coyotes, etc... and then vulpines which are the foxes. i think it got around somehow that because of that, foxes aren't really "related" to dogs.

so my answer is no, wolves and foxes DEFINITELY are dogs and not cats... since they are canids.  

Answer 7

Wolves are closer to dogs. No doubt about it. Wolves and dogs are Canids.

Answer 8

dogs are like wolves because they are in the same family named Canidae  which also included foxes, coyotes, dingoes, jackals, and African Wild Dogs. so wolves are in the same family as dogs. And cats are in the family of Felidae which includes Pantherinae,Lion,Tiger,Jaguar,Leopard, Cougar,Cheetah, lynxe, Caracal,and the Domestic Cat.

Answer 9

There is definitely a possibility. There are several ways in which evolution operates. Dogs and wolves may have a common ancestor; in this case, it is divergent evolution, because they have evolved in different ways. In the case of wolves being close to cats is convergent evolution, meaning that, they have developed similar traits due to similar lifestyles, for example chasing and feeding on the same prey. So on an evolutionary time-line there can be a point where wolves are closer to cats than to dogs.

Answer 10

First of all, the word 'vulpine' refers to foxes. The word for wolves is 'lupine'. Secondly, both foxes and wolves are members of the dog family, Canidae. The grey wolf is the direct ancestor of the domestic dog, and the two remain so close genetically that they are able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Cats belong to the family Felidae - they are a completely separate family. Though both belong to the order Carnivora, they are on separate branches of the order - the Canidae are on the Caniformia (dog-like) branch, together with the Ursidae (bears), Procyonidae (raccoons and relatives), Mustelidae (weasels), Otariidae (eared seals), and Phocidae (true seals). The Felidae are on the Feliformia (cat-like) branch, together with the Hyaenidae (hyenas), Viverridae (civets and genets), and Herpestidae (mongooses).

Just compare a photo of a wolf or fox to a photo of, say, a German Shepherd, and then compare it to a photo of a domestic cat or a leopard. It's pretty obvious which it will resemble most closely.

Answer 11

vulpines are foxes not wolves, factualy they are a canid but behaviorly they DO ACT more like cats than dogs, for example cats are very neat. if you've ever seen a cat kill something they dont tear and chew at it like dogs do. foxes are the same way, Very Neat.

you should look up an animal website.