Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Nov 19/01) - "Oh geez, there goes another Iqaluit special," Katy Wilson said, watching an odd-looking pooch go by.

What, you might ask, is an Iqaluit special?

An odd-looking critter if ever there was one, the Iqaluit special designation refers to numerous canines of dubious pedigree roaming the streets of Nunavut's capital.

"They've got stubby legs, a tubular body, and this screwed up tail," Wilson said when pressed.

Iqaluit specials seem to be the product of generations of intermingling between the Canadian Inuit dog, commonly known as qimmiq, and assorted Fidos and Spots who immigrated North with their human companions.

The furry critters also bear witness to an physiological "rule" suggested about 100 years ago by a bird and seal researcher at Harvard University named Joel Asaph Allen.

Allen's still-contested Rule states that "certain extremities of animals are relatively shorter in the cooler parts of a species' range than in the warmer parts."

For example, the arctic hare has much shorter ears and legs compared with its southern relative, the jackrabbit. The variations in appearance are practical. The arctic hare's rounder form also allows it to retain heat more efficiently.

The jackrabbit, a resident of hot, arid climates, takes advantage of its longer ears, head, and legs. With a less spherical surface area, it disperses heat more efficiently.

All of which brings us back to the Iqaluit special, a marvel of Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection (in which Allen, curiously, never believed).

While the Canadian Inuit dog was bred by its owners for centuries to produce necessary characteristics -- strength, endurance, a burning desire to pull things -- Iqaluit specials have other fish to fry.

Their parents and grandparents may very well have come from the South. Instead of being bred for pulling komatiks, they seem more interested in looking for love in too many places. The products of these unions correspond nicely with Allen's Rule.

That rule, incidentally, is not universally embraced by the scientific community.

Wilson, for her part, cares little about the evolutionary biology behind the dogs. She just thinks they're weird."They're a breed unto themselves," she said.