A wolfdog (also called a wolf hybrid or wolf-dog hybrid) is a canid hybrid resulting from the mating of a wolf (Canis lupus) and a dog (Canis lupus familiaris). The term "wolfdog" is preferred by most wolfdog proponents and breeders, as they contend that these animals are not hybrids at all, as one is a subspecies of the other. (In 1993, the domestic dog C. l. familiaris was reclassified by the scientific community as a subspecies of wolf, C. lupus.)