Canis lupus dingo
Encyclopedia
The taxon Canis lupus dingo is named for its most famous and original member, the Australian Dingo, but it also includes non-Australian animals such as the New Guinea Singing Dog
, the Thai Dog, and other animals which are considered taxonomically identical to the Australian Dingo. so any differences would be at the level of "variety," "landrace
", or "breed". The name indicates that, like the familiar common dog, Canis lupus familiaris, it is a subspecies of Canis lupus, also known as the Gray Wolf.
and the Arabian Wolf
. The early evolutionary process was one of domestication; a process which has both biological and anthropological elements. Wild wolves and human cultures evolved a commensal relationship in which each derived benefits from learning to tolerate or interact with each other, a process that transformed the physical features and instincts of those populations of wolves living around human settlements from wolf into dingoes, generally considered to be a subspecies of Canis lupus intermediate between wolf and dog.
for the term Canis lupus dingo, the majority of which referred to the Australian Dingo but several of which refer to animals found in Southern and Southeast Asia.
, in modern Pakistan
, collected a wide variety of ancient domestic animal remains which had been buried since three thousand years BC. The remains included a dog which the researcher who wrote the report named the Canis tenggeranas harappensis, noting "marked skull affinities to the Indian Wolf
" and hypothesized to be the ancestor of the Indian Greyhound. Since that time, however, mammalogists reviewing the evidence have concluded that it is taxonomically identical to the Australian Dingo and have therefore grouped it together with the Australian Dingo into the taxon Canis lupus dingo.
in Eastern Java identified a dog living there which they named "Canis familiaris tenggerana". They observed the dogs living alongside the natives in a semi-domesticated state. Since that time, Canis familiaris tenggerana has been identified and reclassified as C. l. dingo.
in 1882, N. De Miklouho-Maclay identified several anatomical and behavioural differences between Australian Dingoes and dogs that inhabited the coastal lowlands(Maclay Coast) of Papua New Guinea. He gave the Papuan coastal canines the scientific name Canis papuensis. The differences between Canis dingo and Canis papuensis included a much smaller brain, which he attributed to the quite different lifestyles of the two animals. There were several differences in overall looks and build. In fact, the dogs he dubbed Papuan Dogs or New Guinea Dogs bore little resemblance to the canines commonly known as New Guinea Singing Dogs. Whereas the Australian Dingo is well-known for its intelligence and boldness, as well as near independence from humans, he reported that the coastal Papuan canines remained on the periphery of native villages, regularly feeding on cast-offs and human waste. Hunting on their own was almost unknown. Instead of the bold independence of the Australian Dingo, the coastal dogs behaved very subserviently toward humans, exhibiting begging and grovelling. Additionally, he stated, "The Canis papuensis is very different in appearance and character from Canis dingo; is generally smaller, has not the bushy tail of the dingo...." Since New Guinea Singing Dogs or New Guinea Dingoes were not mentioned in his report, it is unknown whether Miklouho-Maclay was even aware of their existence. His report was only concerned with canines he observed along the Maclay Coast.
.
The most common variety is the "Thai Dog", sometimes called the "Thai Dingo", which are also found in neighboring countries. They tend to be somewhat smaller than Australian Dingoes, and live and behave less like wild animals. Although many are kept as pets or working dogs, the majority roam freely and subsist by begging and scavenging from humans. Many Thai people believe that as Buddhists they gain merit by leaving food out for the free-roaming "neighborhood dogs" in the streets. Consequently, Thailand has a large population of wild dogs and also many of the attendant problems having such a population entails, such as periodic rabies epidemics.
Extensive morphological and genetic testing has supported the observations of Australian Dingo experts that Thai Dogs are taxonomically identical to the Dingoes in Australia. However there are a few noticeable differences. Black and ginger color variations, rare in Australia, are common in Thailand and Thai Dogs tend to have shorter hair. Their behavior is also substantially different; they live among and alongside people as urban free-ranging dogs. As such, they are viewed as unexceptional mongrel dogs, and not, as in Australia, as wild animals distinctly different from true dogs. In some sub-cultures in the region they are commonly looked to as a source of dogmeat and eaten as a delicacy; in the wider community they are more likely to be kept as guard dogs, used as hunting dogs, or carefully bred into specific breeds such as the Thai Ridgeback
.
Other noted varieties of Canis lupus dingo include:
s that they were compared to in the study. The physical similarity to Australian Dingoes is more clearly obvious in the case of the relatively uniform Kinatami dogs than in the wide physically diversity seen among the street dogs, which are noted for their distrust of humans, even when taken in as puppies.
s of dogs of Japan, such as the Akita Inu and Shiba Inu
, share a close common origin with Australian Dingoes.
New Guinea Singing Dog
The New Guinea Singing Dog is a wild dog once found throughout New Guinea. New Guinea Singing Dogs are named for their unique howl....
, the Thai Dog, and other animals which are considered taxonomically identical to the Australian Dingo. so any differences would be at the level of "variety," "landrace
Landrace
A landrace is a local variety of a domesticated animal or plant species which has developed largely by natural processes, by adaptation to the natural and cultural environment in which it lives. It differs from a formal breed which has been bred deliberately to conform to a particular standard...
", or "breed". The name indicates that, like the familiar common dog, Canis lupus familiaris, it is a subspecies of Canis lupus, also known as the Gray Wolf.
Origin
Dingoes may have evolved in the northern areas of Thailand and Vietnam between five and six thousand years ago from south Asian wolves quite similar to the Indian WolfIndian Wolf
Indian wolf and Iranian Wolf are two common names for Canis lupus pallipes, a subspecies of grey wolf which inhabits western India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and southern Israel. Some experts have suggested at least some C. lupus pallipes populations be re-classified a canid species...
and the Arabian Wolf
Arabian Wolf
The Arabian wolf is a subspecies of Gray Wolf which was once found throughout the Arabian Peninsula, but now only lives in small pockets in Southern Israel, Southern and western Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and probably in some parts of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.-Features and...
. The early evolutionary process was one of domestication; a process which has both biological and anthropological elements. Wild wolves and human cultures evolved a commensal relationship in which each derived benefits from learning to tolerate or interact with each other, a process that transformed the physical features and instincts of those populations of wolves living around human settlements from wolf into dingoes, generally considered to be a subspecies of Canis lupus intermediate between wolf and dog.
Taxonomic synonyms
Current taxonomy identifies nine taxonomic synonymsSynonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
for the term Canis lupus dingo, the majority of which referred to the Australian Dingo but several of which refer to animals found in Southern and Southeast Asia.
"harappensis", an ancient dingo found in South Asia
During excavation seasons in 1924-25 and 1930-31, a team of researchers at HarappaHarappa
Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River. The current village of Harappa is from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a train station left from...
, in modern Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, collected a wide variety of ancient domestic animal remains which had been buried since three thousand years BC. The remains included a dog which the researcher who wrote the report named the Canis tenggeranas harappensis, noting "marked skull affinities to the Indian Wolf
Indian Wolf
Indian wolf and Iranian Wolf are two common names for Canis lupus pallipes, a subspecies of grey wolf which inhabits western India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and southern Israel. Some experts have suggested at least some C. lupus pallipes populations be re-classified a canid species...
" and hypothesized to be the ancestor of the Indian Greyhound. Since that time, however, mammalogists reviewing the evidence have concluded that it is taxonomically identical to the Australian Dingo and have therefore grouped it together with the Australian Dingo into the taxon Canis lupus dingo.
"tenggerana", the dingoes of Java
In the late nineteenth century, experts working in the Tennger MountainsBromo Tengger Semeru National Park
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is located in East Java, Indonesia, to the east of Malang and to the southeast of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. It is the only conservation area in Indonesia that has a sand sea, the Tengger Sand Sea , across which is the caldera of an ancient volcano from...
in Eastern Java identified a dog living there which they named "Canis familiaris tenggerana". They observed the dogs living alongside the natives in a semi-domesticated state. Since that time, Canis familiaris tenggerana has been identified and reclassified as C. l. dingo.
"papuensis"
In a report to the Linnean Society of New South WalesLinnean Society of New South Wales
The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. It succeeded the Entomological Society of New South Wales, founded in 1862 and folded in...
in 1882, N. De Miklouho-Maclay identified several anatomical and behavioural differences between Australian Dingoes and dogs that inhabited the coastal lowlands(Maclay Coast) of Papua New Guinea. He gave the Papuan coastal canines the scientific name Canis papuensis. The differences between Canis dingo and Canis papuensis included a much smaller brain, which he attributed to the quite different lifestyles of the two animals. There were several differences in overall looks and build. In fact, the dogs he dubbed Papuan Dogs or New Guinea Dogs bore little resemblance to the canines commonly known as New Guinea Singing Dogs. Whereas the Australian Dingo is well-known for its intelligence and boldness, as well as near independence from humans, he reported that the coastal Papuan canines remained on the periphery of native villages, regularly feeding on cast-offs and human waste. Hunting on their own was almost unknown. Instead of the bold independence of the Australian Dingo, the coastal dogs behaved very subserviently toward humans, exhibiting begging and grovelling. Additionally, he stated, "The Canis papuensis is very different in appearance and character from Canis dingo; is generally smaller, has not the bushy tail of the dingo...." Since New Guinea Singing Dogs or New Guinea Dingoes were not mentioned in his report, it is unknown whether Miklouho-Maclay was even aware of their existence. His report was only concerned with canines he observed along the Maclay Coast.
Dingoes of Peninsular Southeast Asia
Pure Asian dingoes live freely in many areas of Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
.
The most common variety is the "Thai Dog", sometimes called the "Thai Dingo", which are also found in neighboring countries. They tend to be somewhat smaller than Australian Dingoes, and live and behave less like wild animals. Although many are kept as pets or working dogs, the majority roam freely and subsist by begging and scavenging from humans. Many Thai people believe that as Buddhists they gain merit by leaving food out for the free-roaming "neighborhood dogs" in the streets. Consequently, Thailand has a large population of wild dogs and also many of the attendant problems having such a population entails, such as periodic rabies epidemics.
Extensive morphological and genetic testing has supported the observations of Australian Dingo experts that Thai Dogs are taxonomically identical to the Dingoes in Australia. However there are a few noticeable differences. Black and ginger color variations, rare in Australia, are common in Thailand and Thai Dogs tend to have shorter hair. Their behavior is also substantially different; they live among and alongside people as urban free-ranging dogs. As such, they are viewed as unexceptional mongrel dogs, and not, as in Australia, as wild animals distinctly different from true dogs. In some sub-cultures in the region they are commonly looked to as a source of dogmeat and eaten as a delicacy; in the wider community they are more likely to be kept as guard dogs, used as hunting dogs, or carefully bred into specific breeds such as the Thai Ridgeback
Thai Ridgeback
The Thai Ridgeback is an ancient breed of dog. The breed was formerly unknown outside of Thailand, but is gaining notice in the Western world. The Thai Ridgeback is one of only three breeds that has a ridge of hair that runs along its back in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat...
.
Other noted varieties of Canis lupus dingo include:
- 'Siamese Hairless Boran Dog' is a rare, if not extinct, form of ancient primitive canine. Some experts believe a small population still lives along the Thailand/Laos border. They are not to be confused with the Thai RidgebackThai RidgebackThe Thai Ridgeback is an ancient breed of dog. The breed was formerly unknown outside of Thailand, but is gaining notice in the Western world. The Thai Ridgeback is one of only three breeds that has a ridge of hair that runs along its back in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat...
, which has risen from one of the variants.
- ' Phu Quoc ridgeback dog' (Cho Phú Quốc) is a short haired primitive breed of dog with hair whorls on their backs. Phu Quoc Dogs and Thai Dogs differ from one another in several ways. Nonetheless, the Phu Quoc ridgeback dog is considered a progenitor of thr Thai Ridgeback. Pure Phu Quoc ridgeback dogs still exist on the mainland of Thailand. The Phu Quoc ridgeback dog was discovered on the island of Phu Quoc (which it is named after), an island located off the west coast of Vietnam and the Vietnamese territory. It is believed that Phu Quoc Dogs were originally transported to the islands from the mainland by Thai fishermen. The Phu Quoc ridgeback dog is considered one of the three rarest canines and is in dire need of field research and wild population conservation efforts. Systematic breeding of the captive population on the island has had a positive affect on island tourism. For more information see the main article "Phu Quoc ridgeback dogPhu quoc ridgeback dogPhu Quoc ridgeback dogs are a breed of dog from Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam’s southern Kien Giang Province. The Phu Quoc Ridgeback is one of only three breeds that has a ridge of hair that runs along its back in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat .The Phu Quoc dog was included in the...
"
The "dingoes" of Bali
Experts report that Bali Street Dogs and a breed of dog developed from them, the Kinatami Dog, are genetically closer to Australian Dingos than they are to any of the many other breeds and landraceLandrace
A landrace is a local variety of a domesticated animal or plant species which has developed largely by natural processes, by adaptation to the natural and cultural environment in which it lives. It differs from a formal breed which has been bred deliberately to conform to a particular standard...
s that they were compared to in the study. The physical similarity to Australian Dingoes is more clearly obvious in the case of the relatively uniform Kinatami dogs than in the wide physically diversity seen among the street dogs, which are noted for their distrust of humans, even when taken in as puppies.
"Dingoes" of Eastern Asia
Some experts have provided evidence that native breeds and landraceLandrace
A landrace is a local variety of a domesticated animal or plant species which has developed largely by natural processes, by adaptation to the natural and cultural environment in which it lives. It differs from a formal breed which has been bred deliberately to conform to a particular standard...
s of dogs of Japan, such as the Akita Inu and Shiba Inu
Shiba Inu
The is the smallest of the six original and distinct breeds of dog from Japan.A small, agile dog that copes very well with mountainous terrain, the Shiba Inu was originally bred for hunting. It is similar in appearance to the Akita, though much smaller in stature...
, share a close common origin with Australian Dingoes.