How could a wolf-man be explained without magic?

The legends of lycanthropes go back eons; while they have changed over time, a common modern expression of them is of an infected or cursed human that is given the power to transform into a wolf and/or a hybrid canid-humanoid form either willingly or when triggered by certain events (anger, full moon), in exchange for a more...primal and predatory mindset. While we know that shapeshifting requires magic, one possible interpretation of lycanthropy is of a permanent change to the "hybrid" canid-humanoid form upon infection:

• Thicker hair/fur, often a countershaded grey although other colors are acceptable (black is common in the mythos, but is the result of introgression with domestic dogs in real-life wolf populations)
• Canid head structure (muzzle + strong bite, dentition, set-back eyes, erect ears) and largely canid senses (esp. hearing and smell, but with good eyesight too, while retaining human trichromacy)
• Fixed claws instead of nails on both hands and feet
• Digitigrade, bipedal locomotion
• Growth spurt upon contraction (both height and weight/strength)
• Athletic and strong (easily capable of wrestling an average human to the ground or pinning them to a tree, and running them down for that matter)
• Adaptable, largely carnivorous diet
• Capable of eating large portions in one sitting
• Can pass these changes along to uninfected humans with a bite, or to their children
• Human intelligence in spite of cranial capacity restrictions, with only modest personality changes (i.e. they aren't totally feral/could learn to function in human society)
• Fully fertile with other lycanthropes (werewolf puppies \o/)

(How) would this one-time transformation be possible biologically (i.e. explainable in terms of what we know about how biology works, even if it'd be difficult/improbable/require bioengineering to create)?

posted over 6 years ago

Shalvenay‭

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