Ok, let me explain the whole Red Wolf situation.
1. Red Wolves are not hybrids between Canis lupus and Canis latrans. There has been no recorded hybridization between the two species. In fact, when the two species get together, lupus kills latrans.
2. It is easiest to comprehend the NA canid situation in terms of migration patters. The first wave of migration happened over 500,000 years ago. The descendants of this migration are the Coyote, Eastern Wolf, and Red Wolf.
3. Human intervention has dramatically changed these three taxa's range. Traditionally, we could view the Mississippi River as the main dividing line between Red Wolves and Coyotes, and the Appalachians as the dividing line between the Eastern Wolves and the Red Wolves.
4. Once the Red Wolves disappeared, the Coyotes started to take over their range. True Coyotes are solitary animals. Seeing them in a pack would indicate they are probably Coy-Dogs (remember, there is no such thing as a Coy-Wolf). This would more than likely explain the somewhat larger size seen in the new "Eastern" Coyote population.
5. Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) migrated into NA much later, around the same time as humans (c. 15,000 years ago). Their larger size and more aggressive nature drove out the smaller and less aggressive canids from the earlier migration. If you look at a map of distributions, you can see how the range of C. lupus seems to radiate out of Berengia.
6. There may have been a 3rd migration between 1 and 2 which would account for C. lupus baileyi). This has yet to be proven. If shown to be true, C. lupus baiely should be elevated to a full species.
7. Canis lycaon should be considered a valid species. In cladistic analyses it never groups with C. lupus, but always with C. latrans. All reports of a hybrid between C. lupus and C. latrans can be explained by the fact that the "C. lupus" in question was actually "C. lycaon."
8. The Red Wolf is a valid taxa. However, it can occupy one of two taxonomic situations. One: it is a full species (C. rufus); or two: it is a subspecies of C. lycaon. The uncertainty comes from recent hybridization events (within the last 100 years) that wash out all the original mtDNA from the proto Red Wolf population.
9. The name Canis lycaon is probably not valid under ICZN rules. Lycaon was used by Linnaeus as a moniker for European black wolves, and under the rules of precedence, lycaon cannot be considered valid for NA populations unless they are deemed the same species (which they've shown not to be).
Ok, I think that does it. My brain hurts. Last month I read every single taxonomic paper on the status of the Red Wolf and this is the best synthesis I can come up with. Yes, it is a valid taxa (species or subspecies). No, it is not a hybrid. It is not related to the Gray Wolf.
