cockscomb sainfoin vs gray wolf

Onobrychis caput-galli compared with Canis lupus

Key Differences

cockscomb sainfoin is Not Evaluated while gray wolf is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	cockscomb sainfoin	gray wolf
Kingdom	Plantae (植物)	Animalia (动物界)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (木兰植物门)	Chordata (脊索动物门)
Class	Magnoliopsida (木兰纲)	Mammalia (哺乳動物)
Order	Fabales (豆目)	Carnivora (食肉目)
Family	Fabaceae	Canidae (Dogs & Wolves)
Genus	Onobrychis	Canis (Dogs & Wolves)
Species	Onobrychis caput-galli	Canis lupus

Conservation Status

cockscomb sainfoin

NE — Not Evaluated

gray wolf

CR — Critically Endangered

Population: ~300.0K

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	cockscomb sainfoin	gray wolf
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	13 years
Average Length	—	1.6 m
Average Weight	—	45.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

cockscomb sainfoin

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, France, Netherlands, and United Kingdom.

gray wolf

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, deserts and xeric shrublands, and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, among 13 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Seychelles), Asia (Japan), Europe (5 countries), North America (7 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Marshall Islands, Vanuatu), and South America (5 countries). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

cockscomb sainfoin

Cockscomb sainfoin (Onobrychis caput-galli) is a slender, annual or biennial legume in the family Fabaceae, native to dry, rocky grasslands, field margins, and garrigue scrub of western Europe, primarily in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, extending into the Mediterranean basin. Growing to 20–50 centimetres, the plant has pinnately compound leaves and produces loose racemes of small pink to mauve pea flowers in late spring and early summer. The distinctive winged, helmet-shaped pods — resembling a cock's head or comb — give the species both its common and scientific names (caput-galli meaning cock's head in Latin). Unlike the closely related common sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), this species does not spread by creeping rhizomes and is less commonly used in agriculture, though it grows in similar calcareous, well-drained soil conditions. The plant is associated with dry chalk and limestone grasslands, a habitat under significant pressure from agricultural intensification, scrub encroachment, and development across much of its European range. Pollination is primarily by bees attracted to the nectar-rich flowers. Onobrychis caput-galli is Not Evaluated on the IUCN Red List at global scale, though it may be considered locally rare or declining in parts of its northwestern European range where appropriate grassland habitats have diminished substantially over the past century.