Dog family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The latter evolved into a large number of families, of which the Canidae, about 12 mio. years ago, split into three groups:

Canini includes wolf-like dogs, and South American dogs and foxes.

Vulpini includes typical foxes, bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis), and raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides)

Two foxes of the genus Urocyon seem to have split out at a very early stage (Lindblad-Toh et al. 2005). Modern taxonomists do not include these two species in Canini or Vulpini.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, two species of jackals, the black-backed (formerly C. mesomelas) and the side-striped (formerly C. adustus), have been moved to a separate genus, Lupulella (below).

 

Between 1700 and 1900, the wolf was eradicated in most of Europe. In southern England, it had been largely eradicated by the end of the 1400s through hunting and using traps, and in the 1500s, wolves were only found in Scotland. The last wolf on the British Isles was killed around 1680.

In Germany, the wolf was eradicated in the 1700s, and the last Danish wolf was killed in 1813. It returned to Germany from Poland in the 1990s, and the first pair was established by 2000. Since then, it has spread considerably, and the first Danish wolf in 199 years was found dead in 2012.

My encounter with a wolf is described on the page Travel episodes – Iran 1973: Car breakdown at the Caspian Sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dogs were first tamed at least 30,000 years ago, when Stone Age people trained wolves to assist them in hunting. Since then, the dog has been the most valuable companion of Man within the animal kingdom. The domestication of the dog is dealt with in detail on the page Animals: Animals as servants of Man, which also shows numerous dog breeds, and Man’s usage of dogs.

Two types of dogs, which descended from the ancestral dog, are so different from other dogs that they have been given subspecific status: the Australian Dingo (C. l. dingo) and the African Basenji (C. l. basenji). They differ from other dogs in that they cannot bark, and they come into oestrus only once a year, as opposed to twice or more annually in other dogs. They also both lack a distinctive body odour.

Genetic evidence indicates that the Dingo originated from East Asian domestic dogs. It was introduced to Australia about 4,000 years ago by seafaring tribes, and today feral populations live in most of the continent, barred from access to the south-eastern part of the country by a so-called ‘dingo fence’. Today, it is the largest terrestrial predator in Australia, as the indigenous thylacine, or Tasmanian wolf (Thylacinus cynocephalus), was extirpated by farmers in the 1900s. Dingos are often a threat to livestock, but at the same time they benefit farmers, as they mainly prey on rabbits, kangaroos, and rats – three major pests in Australian farming.

The Basenji is said to have originated in the Congo Basin in West Africa. Dogs, resembling modern Basenjis are depicted in Egyptian tombs, sitting with pricked ears and tightly curled tails, just as they do today. Dogs of this type were originally kept in Egypt for hunting small game (Dollman 1937).

 

 

 

 

This breed was named by the British Raj, after the Pariah tribe near Chennai, derived from the Hindi word pahi (‘outsider’), which was Anglicized to pariah or pye. The alternative name Desi dog is derived from Urdu desi (‘native’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My adventures among Punan tribals are related on the page Travel episodes – Borneo 1975: Canoe trip with Punan tribals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In north-western India, the ranges of the nominate race of the golden jackal, aureus, and the Indian jackal, subspecies indica, overlap.

 

 

It is distributed in the northern parts of Africa, from Morocco eastwards to Egypt, southwards to Senegal and northern Tanzania. It is a highly adaptable species, which thrives in savannas as well as quite dry deserts. In the Atlas Mountains, it has been found up to an altitude of 1,800 m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to human encroachment and competition from feral domestic dogs, it has become Africa’s most endangered carnivore. As of 2011, it was restricted to seven montane areas, counting about 400 adult animals, more than half of which were found in Bale Mountains National Park.

 

 

 

 

 

The name coyote is a Spanish corruption of the Nahuatl word for this animal, coyotl.

The cleverness of the coyote is reflected in the mythology of many indigenous peoples of North America. A wizard named Coyote is one of the characters that most often appears in myths and legends, often as a trickster. He is usually depicted as man-like, often with some coyote features, such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, a tail, and claws.

According to one myth among certain Pacific peoples, Coyote was once playing with his eyes, throwing them up into the air and catching them again. However, he was surprised by the eagle god, who snatched the eyes and flew away with them. Being unable to see, Coyote created new eyes from buttercup flowers (Ranunculus), for which reason these flowers, among some tribes, were known as Coyote’s Eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunting dogs live in packs, the size of which varies enormously, from 2 to about 25 members – usually between 6 and 10. Most of the year, these animals are nomads, roaming savannas and woodland in search of prey. The hunting area of a pack may exceed 4,000 km².

As a rule, a bitch gives birth to 8 to 16 pups. She only has 12 or 14 teats, and if the litter is larger the pups must suckle in turn. Under normal circumstances, the other dogs in the pack have no difficulty in supplying enough food for the mother and her pups. During his studies, biologist Hugo van Lawick noticed a peculiar behaviour, when he watched a dominant female suckling a mother dog of a lower status (Lawick & Goodall 1970). The desire for suckling seems to be quite strong.

Formerly, the African hunting dog was distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa but has disappeared from much of its former range. This decline is due to habitat fragmentation, persecution from humans, and a very contagious viral disease, which has killed entire packs all across East Africa. In 2016, the total population was estimated at about 6,600 adults, of which only c. 1,400 were reproducing, in 39 subpopulations (IUCN).

The species is still fairly common in Botswana and Zimbabwe, and it may be able to spread northwards from here. Hopefully, these fascinating nomads will continue to roam the African savannas in the future.

The life of these fascinating dogs is described in depth on the page Animals: Hunting dogs – nomads of the savanna.

The pictures below were all taken in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red foxes live in pairs or small family groups, in which young from a previous litter assist in bringing up the next litter. They are quite omnivorous, their food consisting of rodents, rabbits, young deer, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, fruit, and sometimes also green plants. In areas with wolves, coyotes, golden jackals, or large cats, the red fox is very vulnerable to attacks from these larger predators.

The red fox has been extensively persecuted by humans for thousands of years. Initially, it was hunted for its rich fur, but when humans settled as farmers and began raising fowl, the fox quickly began killing the fowl. For this reason, it was persecuted as a pest. In later years, it has successfully spread to urban areas, where no hunting takes place. Here they thrive, feeding on rodents and edible garbage. Many people also feed them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic and specific names both refer to these ears. Otocyon is derived from the Greek otus (‘ear’) and cyon (‘dog’), and megalotis from the Greek mega (‘large’) and again otus (‘ear’). Besides giving an acute sense of hearing, the large ears also serve as an aid in thermo-regulation.

The preferred habitat of the bat-eared fox is short-grass savannas, in which it hunts for primarily invertebrates. Like the black-backed jackal, it occurs in two widely separated geographical area, from Ethiopia and South Sudan southwards to Tanzania, and from southern Zambia and Angola, south to South Africa.