In a groundbreaking study published in Ecology Letters, researchers have unveiled how grey wolves (Canis lupus) modify their feeding behaviors in response to climate change, specifically the tendency to consume harder foods such as bones during warmer periods. These findings challenge the conventional assumption of wolf resilience to changing climates and offer new insights with profound implications for conservation efforts across Europe and potentially worldwide.
The research team employed Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA), a sophisticated technique that examines microscopic wear patterns on the molar surfaces of teeth to reconstruct an animal’s recent dietary habits. These surface features—comprising intricate scratches and pits—serve as a biological archive of the “last supper” in an individual wolf’s lifetime, revealing the nature of consumed materials. By applying DMTA to wolf teeth from distinct historical intervals, the researchers could deduce shifts in dietary hardness linked to climatic fluctuations.
Samples examined span three pivotal periods: approximately 200,000 years ago, reflective of an interglacial climate with summer conditions akin to the present but characterized by colder winters; circa 125,000 years ago, an epoch notable for elevated summer temperatures and milder winters; and contemporary wolves inhabiting Poland, a region currently experiencing noticeable warming winters and diminished snow cover. These timeframes offer a temporal gradient for assessing how wolves adjusted their foraging strategies in response to environmental pressures.
Analysis of the fossilized dentition revealed marked differences between wolves from the older and younger interglacial epochs. Specifically, molar microwear data indicate that earlier wolves consumed relatively softer diet components, whereas wolves from the younger, warmer interglacial period exhibited increased durophagy, reflected in more extensive tooth surface abrasions consistent with bone consumption. This dietary shift suggests that warmer climates exerted ecological stress, compelling wolves to exploit harder, less digestible food sources more intensively.
Intriguingly, modern wolves from Poland exhibit dental microwear patterns remarkably similar to those of the younger interglacial wolves, underscoring that ongoing climate warming is generating comparable ecological challenges today. This congruence reveals that contemporary wolf populations are under previously unrecognized stress, likely driven by reduced snow cover and altered prey availability caused by global climate trends.
The underlying ecological mechanism relates closely to snow conditions. Snow-covered landscapes traditionally favor predator efficiency by limiting herbivore mobility and concealing them from foraging challenges, thereby enhancing wolf hunting success. Heavier snow cover results in higher prey vulnerability and supports greater predator body condition and litter survival. Conversely, warmer winters with sparse snow reduce these advantages, making wolves’ hunting efforts more energetically costly and less fruitful.
To cope with these disadvantages, wolves appear to compensate by scavenging more extensively, frequently consuming carcass bones and other tough tissues normally avoided under optimal conditions. This behavioral plasticity involves greater energetic expenditure and could increase exposure to risks associated with scavenging, such as pathogen transmission and conflict with other scavengers or humans.
Moreover, in human-modified landscapes like parts of Poland, wolves have adapted by incorporating food sources such as deer and wild boar near agricultural areas, as well as roadkill. Paradoxically, populations situated in more pristine habitats might suffer disproportionately from climate-driven stress due to limited access to such anthropogenic subsidies, raising conservation concerns for wolves residing in wilderness regions.
This research harnesses the value of fossil collections held at institutions like the Natural History Museum in London, some specimens dating back over 175 years, exemplifying how palaeontological archives can illuminate modern conservation issues. By bridging paleobiology and ecological science, the emerging discipline of conservation palaeobiology promises to integrate long-term natural history perspectives into wildlife management amidst rapid environmental change.
The study’s authors argue that long-term conservation strategies for large carnivores must integrate considerations of climate dynamics, as rising temperatures and altered seasonality pose substantive risks to predator populations historically adapted to cold, snowy conditions. Recognizing such climatic stressors will be essential to designing effective recovery and management plans for wolves facing a warming future.
This innovative research, led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with the Natural History Museum and other institutions, was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and involved international partners including the University of Warsaw and the University of Leicester. It highlights a vital intersection between climate science, ecology, and conservation biology, offering a model for future investigations aimed at understanding and mitigating biodiversity impacts from global change.
Study co-author Professor Danielle Schreve emphasizes the significance of these findings: “Our analysis provides compelling evidence that grey wolves’ feeding ecology is intimately linked to climate variability, challenging the perception of their resilience. This underscores the necessity for conservation policies that acknowledge and address the subtle but profound impacts of warming climates on apex predators.”
Similarly, lead author Dr. Amanda Burtt highlights the intricacies of the dietary adjustments wolves make in the face of warming: “The transition to consuming harder foods such as bones indicates heightened ecological stress, revealing wolves’ attempts to extract maximal nutrition under increasingly challenging environmental conditions. This insight is crucial for anticipating how ongoing climate shifts may affect predator-prey dynamics and ecosystem health.”
With global climate change accelerating, comprehending the nuanced biological responses of keystone species like grey wolves is indispensable. This study adds to a growing body of evidence that terrestrial carnivores are not insulated from climate-driven perturbations. Instead, they are enmeshed in complex adaptive behaviors that have consequences extending beyond their populations to the broader ecological communities they shape.
In conclusion, this research elucidates a critical, previously underappreciated dimension of climate change impacts: the modification of feeding behavior in response to thermal and seasonal shifts. The demonstration that grey wolves increase bone consumption during warmer interglacial periods and current warming trends signifies an adaptive yet costly behavioral strategy. This finding serves as a clarion call for conservationists and policymakers to incorporate climate change resilience measures explicitly into plans safeguarding wolves and other large carnivores throughout their ranges.
Subject of Research:
Grey Wolf dietary adaptation and ecological stress in response to climate change, using Dental Microwear Texture Analysis across historical and modern populations.
Article Title:
Climate Change Challenges Grey Wolf Resilience: Insights From Dental Microwear
News Publication Date:
11-Feb-2026
Web References:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.70337
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.70337
Image Credits:
Amanda Burtt
Keywords:
Climate change, Animal ecology, Dental Microwear Texture Analysis, Grey wolf, Durophagy, Conservation palaeobiology, Ecological stress, Apex predator, Interglacial periods, Predator-prey dynamics
