Honshu wolf

The Honshū wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax), known in Japan as the Japanese wolf (ニホンオオカミ（日本狼） Nihon Ōkami), yamainu (ヤマイヌ（豺、犲、山犬）, "mountain dog"), or simply wolf (オオカミ（狼） Ōkami), is one of the two extinct subspecies of the gray wolf once endemic to the islands of Japan. The Honshū wolf occupied the islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū in Japan. The other subspecies was the Hokkaidō wolf, native to the island of Hokkaidō.

Honshu wolves were abundant in Japan until 1732 when rabies was introduced to the island. It was rabies, deforestation of the wolf's habitat, and conflict with humans that led to their extinction. The last specimen was officially killed in 1905 in Nara prefecture. Although there have been many sightings claimed since then, none of them have been verified. There are five known mounted specimens: three in Japan, one in the Netherlands, and the last officially killed specimen in the British Museum.

The Honshū wolf was the world’s smallest known wolf. From nose to tail, it grew to about 35 inches in length and stood about a foot tall. It was said that the Honshū wolf much more closely resembled dogs, coyotes and jackals than its Siberian wolf ancestors due to their short wiry hair and a thin dog-like tail that was rounded at the end, along with their short legs. Therefore, the Honshu wolf is argued to be its own species instead of being a gray wolf subspecies because of these physical differences.

Mounted skeleton, National Museum of Nature and Science