The biggest study ever performed on canid howling found that wolf species have unique howling repertoires, functioning like dialects.

A team of researchers from the United States, United Kingdom, India and Spain ran over 2,000 distinct recorded howls from 13 canid species and subspecies via a software algorithm, boiling them down to 21 howl types on the basis of pitch and other characteristics. The canid family consists of wolves, jackals, and domestic dogs.

They discovered that distinct wolf species use the howl types in ways, specific to them. For example, timber wolves use a preponderance of low and flat howls in contrast of red wolves that uses higher vocals.

The researchers said the results may prove helpful in conservation efforts. For instance, though most of the vocal dialects studied by them were different enough between species to avoid confusion, some were quite similar that they may help fuel interbreeding between diverse species. Such a case was that of red wolves and coyotes. Their howling dialects overlapped notably in the study.

Initiatives taken to revive populations of the gravely endangered red wolf have been thwarted because of interbreeding with coyotes.

Study lead Arik Kershenbaum, from the University of Cambridge, said, “The howling overlap between red wolf and coyote may be one reason why they are so likely to mate with each other, and perhaps we can take advantage of subtle differences in howling behavior we have now discovered to keep populations apart”.

They also mentioned that playback recordings could be used for mimicking territorial sounds, probably making wolf packs convinced to steer clear of livestock.

According to Kershenbaum and his colleagues, the howling study may also shed more light on the evolution of human language.