Dingo: jackal as much as wolf

Distribution of Canis lupus photo © Dreg743

Dingo: jackal as much as wolf

Distribution of Canis aureus photo © Goran tek-en

Canis aureus photo © Prabukumar84

The wolf reaches India but not Indochina, where its closest counterpart is the dingo. Because of the belief that both the dingo and domestic dog are descended from the wolf, it has been assumed that the wolf was extirpated in Indochina by hybridisation with the dingo and/or domestic dog. However, what has been overlooked is that the Asian jackal parallels the wolf in being absent in Indochina. Because the dingo is ecologically as jackal-like as wolf-like, the possibility remains that the true ancestor of the dingo and its closest relative the domestic dog was not a wolf, but rather a species of jackal.

Robin and the Honey Badger, 22 August 2016

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