Concise photo-guide to the jackals of the world
@paradoxornithidae @marionholmes @hutan123
Jackals occur on all large non-polar landmasses other than Madagascar.
These are medium-size canids, centering on about 10 kg body mass, and with generalised diets including scavenging.
Altogether we have seven spp. of jackals on Earth, if we
- include Australia as well as South America, and
- ‘shoehorn’ both the culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus, https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/516126-Lycalopex-culpaeus) and the dingo (Canis familiaris dingo, https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47144-Canis-familiaris) into the category of ‘jackal’.
Here I compare the various jackals pictorially, by presenting one carefully-chosen photo for each of these seven spp., accompanied by concise annotation.
It is interesting that
- in the Americas, all jackals were originally restricted to the western parts of the supercontinent, and
- the jackal of North America was about twice as massive as that of South America.
Of all the spp. of jackals, it is L. culpaeus that shows the least individual variation in colouration, while C. adustus shows the most individual variation. This seems related to the fact that the predatory environment in the Andes is simple, compared to that in the central African woodlands.
Overall, in terms of colouration:
- whereas jackals of the Northern and Western Hemispheres are nondescript, those of subSaharan Africa have colouration that is not only complex, but so poorly understood that it is hard to classify as ‘cryptic’, ‘camouflaged’, or ‘conspicuous’, and
- the dingo is odd in being colour-polymorphic.
One of the adaptive functions of the colouration of the two spp. of Lupulella, particularly L. adustus, seems to be to confuse the many spp. of large predators that threaten jackals in subSaharan Africa. Jackals survive by outwitting competitors and predators, and the colouration of the two subSaharan spp. is part of this outwitting.
Lycalopex culpaeus: smallest jackal, cordillera of South America, extremely long tail, colouration nondescript except for dark tip to tail, with minimal individual variation
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/36/29/5e/36295e3efaad88652176b35d85721244.jpg
Canis latrans: largest jackal (together with dingo), western half of North America, tail of normal length for a jackal, colouration nondescript
https://kimsmithdesigns.com/2020/07/17/greenbelts-beautiful-tranquil-seine-field/eastern-coyote-canis-latrans-var-gloucester-ma-copyright-kim-smith-3/
Canis aureus: medium-size, Eurasia, tail short and ears small, colouration nondescript
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kkoshy/8586791531
Canis anthus: medium-size, North Africa, tail of normal length for jackal, colouration nondescript
http://www.animalspot.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Golden-jackal-Pictures.jpg
Lupulella adusta: medium-size, subSaharan Africa, tail long and head small, colouration confusingly variable individually, conspicuous dark/pale contrast on tail and hindquarters
https://retrieverman.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/side-striped-jackal.jpg
Lupulella mesomelas: relatively small, dry parts of subSaharan Africa, tail of normal length for jackal, conspicuous dark/pale contrast on flanks
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cape_black-backed_jackal_Okaukujo_Camp.jpg
Canis familiaris dingo: largest jackal (together with coyote), Australasia and southeast Asia, tail short for jackal, head large, colour-polymorphic with greater tendency to ischial flag than in any other jackal
https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/71941/area14mp/image-20150213-13206-1gcxi3x.jpg
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Remarkable differences among jackal species in fang-baring:
Richard Estes, in his Behavior Guide to African Mammals (1991), mentions that the coexisting jackals Canis anthus and Lupulella mesomelas differ in their fang-baring (a term he does not use). This turns out to be consistent at a generic level, between Canis and Lupulella.
This difference can be illustrated in Canis aureus vs Lupulella mesomelas. The former is similar to the wolf (Canis lupus) and the coyote in its fang-baring expression, whereas Lupulella mesomelas is relatively expressionless.
This difference among Canidae parallels differences among Felidae, particularly lynxes. Even closely similar carnivores can differ in their fang-baring behaviour - and perhaps the anatomical structures that permit such displays.
Canis aureus:
https://www.mindenpictures.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-showing-aggression-romania-naturephotography-image00562261.html
https://es.123rf.com/photo_42905540_euroepan-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-is-threatening.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ap48/41579119395
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48412742@N05/30903410382
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tick-my_pictures/27332240511
https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/golden-jackal-fights-over-food-danube-2090305870
https://www.alamy.com/eurasian-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-moreoticus-threating-danube-delta-romania-image411908140.html
https://www.picfair.com/pics/09683517-golden-jackal-not-looking-happy
https://twitter.com/avoikhansky/status/584289335744147456
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img109/2782/dsc0571bk.jpg
https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1091236/view/golden-jackal-snarling
https://www.mindenpictures.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-snarling-danube-delta-romania-may-naturephotography-image90797605.html
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img855/1452/sciacallodorato53pbase.jpg
https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-adult-threathening-image56847976
https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/a-golden-jackal-animal-in-anger-and-fight-mode-in-nature/246623504
http://www.wildphotons.co.uk/media/Trip%20Report%20India%202011/Jackal_Golden_Indian_Himalayan%20(Canis%20aureus%20indicus)%20Bharatpur%20NP_Rajasthan_Indian%20March%202011_206.jpg
https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-euroepan-threatening-image56578160
https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-snarling-in-aggressive-posture-danube-delta-165855547.html
http://thephotosafari.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/IMG_2196-0049.jpg
Lupulella mesomelas:
http://www.wildencounters.net/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Black-Backed-Jackal-fighting-with-African-White-Backed-Vulture-Masai-Mara-Kenya.jpg
http://blog.bird-rescue.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Yeray-Seminario-PiF-02.jpg
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/96/bb/f5/96bbf5daf17659f759298c55947448e1.jpg
http://mitchellkrog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Jackal-Fight-Skirmish-Wildlife-Photo-ZAD3A8970-Mitchell-Krog.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lde62798ri1qeeqk5o1_500.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m1OcKesq_aA/Uw7WHXDTHmI/AAAAAAAAD-M/VL67zszqKGE/s1600/164A4070-L.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GvUyozFQh0g/VH8DPTbrp_I/AAAAAAAAALI/u9-BLVp4FHk/s1600/jackal%2Bhyena%2B2.JPG
%20Bharatpur%20NP_Rajasthan_Indian%20March%202011_206.jpg){kind=link}
Comments
Illustrations of the 'black-and-tan' colour-morph in adults of the dingo:
http://www.durongdingosanctuaryqld.com.au/zorro/data1/images/2.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNK6i2PUEAAxCpn.jpg
http://img09.deviantart.net/d156/i/2011/083/7/5/black_dingo_pelt_by_naturepunk-d3cdxab.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/dYa2sPFwOkOMl1SSs-8i6-x_OtvWw72SN_dALdvylKxKRsUo0IF-AfRf2x-c5r5q2C5w8VAC8GvneR0FQAGSdA=s580
http://www.nams.ca/MagiBlog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010.06.11-black-dingo-Cunyu-.jpg
http://wolfdogproject.com/qmaledingo.jpg
https://www.australiandoglover.com/2021/03/almost-all-wild-dogs-in-australia-are.html
https://www.deviantart.com/silenceangel/art/Black-and-Tan-Dingo-43694277
https://creatures-of-the-world.fandom.com/wiki/Dingo?file=Dingo-black-and-tan.jpg
scroll in https://arrcommunity.com.au/dingo-sightings/
scroll in https://www.survival.ark.net.au/dingo.php
New Guinea singing dog
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VGp_1P6nAbw/T5xSgmgXK-I/AAAAAAAACFU/lFqzUwvtQdo/s1600/New+Guinea+Singing+Dog+with+rare+black-and-tan+coloration,+pub+dom.jpg
The two subspecies of Lupulella mesomelas can easily be identified by their faces. The East African ssp., schmidti (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=1210974), has underscored cheekbones and a small muzzle. The ear pinnae also differ in shape and relative size.
Lupulella mesomelas mesomelas:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/68221755
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-africa-namibia-etosha-national-park-black-backed-jackal-canis-mesomelas-22652036.html?imageid=C72C8F59-190B-4DC0-A69D-E4D7591363C6&p=17663&pn=1&searchId=def0e7408302fa000283e68d984d9b71&searchtype=0
Lupulella mesomelas schmidti:
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-black-backed-jackal-canis-mesomelas-maasai-mara-national-reserve-kenya-26005751.html
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-wild-jackal-blackbacked-specimen-native-672681037
@milewski
I am of the belief that the jackal of north america (Canis latrans) may just be a dimunitive form of the pleistocene grey wolf. Either that or as you have pointed out (a year ago on a different post) that the species concept doesn't really apply to the genus Canis. A genomic comparison (https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/7/e1501714) points to a potential evolutionary path of wolves, coyotes, red wolves, and eastern wolves. The article delves into the origins of the North American endemic 'wolves'. It was claimed (in the article) that coyotes (C. latrans) and wolves (C. lupus) are derived from a common ancestor dated c. 50000 years BP. Since the modern grey wolf is a descendant of the mosbach wolf (widely reputed ancestral form of the grey wolf) that was replaced c. 300000 years BP by the grey wolf, and considering the grey wolf has re-admixed with the coyote since, then shouldn't it be known to naturalists that the North American jackal/coyote (Canis latrans) is simply a pygmy form of the grey wolf?
Also, the similarities between NA jackals (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97971139) & C. lupaster/anthus jackals (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/146359609) continues to be difficult to distinguish, especially when no geographical location is given. I myself have trouble attempting to tell some of the photos apart, although I generally can due to the typically lesser size of C. lupaster/anthus.
Turns out the claim of a 50 ka divergence two posts (from one of my comments) above was unsubstantiated, there is a much deeper divergence. Gray wolf genomes from the Late Pleistocene of North America already had Canis latrans (NA equivalent of a jackal) admixture, according to https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04824-9, which still is congruent with the belief that no pure wolf remains in NA. Gray wolves and C. latrans began diverging at ~700 ka, with the Y-chromosomes of C. latrans coalescing more recently with gray wolves at ~200 ka.
There's a paper (currently in the process of review) by Japanese researchers claiming Dingos and NGSDs are the direct descendants of an ancestry most related to Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic Japanese domestic dogs found in sites associated with the Jomon culture. Modern Japanese dogs (e.g., Shiba Inu) mostly derive from this 'Jomon dog' ancestry, with other component being domestic dogs from west Eurasia.
Southeast Asian dogs and Dingos indeed derive most or all of their ancestry from 'Jomon dog'-related dogs, according to "Genome analysis of the Jomon dogs reveals the oldest domestic dog lineage in Eastern Eurasia" (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.29.560089v1.full).
@milewski It appears the dingo in Southeast Asia is a "less pure" form than the ones from Australasia
@paradoxornithidae
Many thanks for this useful information.
@paradoxornithidae
https://twitter.com/doctor_castello/status/1641187065567105026
@milewski Is the name Canis anthus more relevant than Canis lupaster w.r.t. the African wolf?
@ludwig_muller @ptexis @paradoxornithidae
BRAININESS IN JACKALS
Please see https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/94772-an-extinct-canid-canis-rubronegrus-hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-domestic-dog-canis-familiaris-part-2#
The various spp. of jackals vary remarkably in braininess, according to data presented in Gittleman (1986) and Smith et al. (2017).
I list the spp. in decreasing order of EQ (encephalisation quotient):
Canis latrans 1.53
Canis aureus 1.42
Canis familiaris dingo 1.37
Lupulella mesomelas 1.22
Lycalopex culpaeus probably about 1.19
Lupulella adusta 0.86
My commentary:
The average mammal, by definition, has EQ = 1.0.
Most spp. of jackals are considerably brainier than the average mammal (including most members of the Felidae), with the coyote (C. latrans) so encephalised that it may exceed the wolf (Canis lupus) in braininess.
It is somewhat surprising that the dingo (C. familiaris dingo) is as brainy as it is, given that it is nominally a 'deeply feral' form of the domestic dog, a species generally recognised to be decephalised relative to its wild ancestors. In terms of its braininess, the dingo seemingly functions like a true jackal, despite having passed through an anthropogenically modified stage in its evolution.
It is also surprising that genus Lupulella is less brainy than genus Canis. The black-backed jackal (L. mesomelas) has the same reputation as the coyote for wiliness/cunning in the face of human persecution, yet its EQ (= 1.2) does not rival even that of the 'domestic dog' in the form of the dingo (EQ = 1.4).
In the case of the side-striped jackal (L. adusta), not only is this member of genus Lupulella the least brainy of the jackals, it is actually considerably below-par for a mammal in general.
For fang-baring expressions, please see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU6t-JvWANs&t=3068s
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