Dingo: jackal as much as wolf

23 August 2016 | Biobullets

Distribution of the subspecies of Canis lupus north of about 20 degrees south, with a three-column key naming thirteen subspecies beneath the map

Distribution of the subspecies of the wolf (Canis lupus). Photo © Tommyknocker · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Distribution of the golden jackal (Canis aureus). Photo © Goran tek-en

Golden jackal (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

Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). Photo © Rijin S

Dingo (Canis familiaris dingo). Photo © Jarrod Amoore