Dingo: Indochinese jackal as much as Australian wolf

(writing in progress)

https://explorebioedge.com/2023/10/25/dingo-indochinese-jackal-as-much-as-australian-wolf/

The dingo1, which is closely related to the domestic dog[Canis familiaris], occurs ferally2 in Indochina.

Its geographical distribution seems consistent with the view that the domestic dog is descended from the wolf, which reaches its limits in India and is absent from tropical southeast Asia.

However, the lack3 of any jackal in Indochina is puzzling because the side-striped jackal4 occurs at similar latitudes and in similar vegetation in Africa.

Because the dingo ecologically resembles jackals more than the wolf, the geographical pattern alternatively supports the view that the ancestor of both domestic dog and dingo was an unknown, extinct species of jackal.

Distribution of Canis lupus:

 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_wolf#/media/File:Canis_lupus_pallipes_distribution.png

 
Distribution of Canis aureus:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Canis_aureus_range.svg

 
Canis aureus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_jackal#/media/File:Canis_aureus_naria_-Yala_December_2010(1).jpg

 
Canis familiaris dingo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo#/media/File:Dingo_walking.jpg

 
Canis lupus pallipes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_wolf#/media/File:Canis_lupus_pallipes_Mysore_Zoo_1.jpg

1 Canis familiaris dingo, which is best-known in Australia but occurs also across Indonesia to the tropical southeast Asian mainland, usually as a commensal free-ranging species around human settlements

2 Homo sapiens

3 The Asian jackal (Canis aureus) is widespread in southern Eurasia but absent from Indochina.

4 Canis adustus

(writing in progress)

Posted on June 13, 2022 09:47 PM by milewski