Does This Missouri Trail Cam Show a Wolf or Coyote? One is Wrong

I will admit that I'm not really asking a question because I know the answer already. Or, at least I think I do. The internet is still arguing over whether a Missouri trail cam shows a wolf or a coyote. You can watch the video and come to your own conclusion.

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This is not a new video, but I still see the internet arguing about it, so I'm sharing it as a (hopefully) teachable moment. (Disclaimer: I'm not known as a smart man, but pretty sure I have science on my side on this one).

This trail cam was shared by a channel near Eureka, Missouri. The key part is near the beginning.

Let's freeze frame the animal in question. Spoiler alert, this is a coyote.

A to Z Animals shared 6 differences between coyotes and wolves, but I'll summarize. A real wolf would be much bigger/taller than this coyote. Sure, I suppose a juvenile wolf could be this size, but the other dead giveaway is the face/snout. When it turns in the direction of the camera, you can see this animal has a narrow face which is the opposite of what you'd see if this was a legitimate wolf. The gait of this animal also differs from what you'd see in a trot by a wolf.

I will admit that when an animal like this runs across a trail cam, it can be hard to tell. However, the one other factor is that coyotes are much more common than wolves in Missouri. Yes, there will occasionally be one spotted, but you can almost always assume you're seeing a coyote until proven otherwise.

Even though the video sharer asked the question, even the description below said it was a coyote. In this case, the wolf theory can successfully be debunked.