African Wild Dog

Sprinkling an extra dose of confusion to an already confused state was the discovery of fossil remains of Canis Africanus (early Pleistocene wolf) which led researchers to conclude that the African Wild Dod was a genuine member of the Canidae. It is now widely accepted and acknowledged that the evolution of the Wild Dog diverged from that of the rest of the Canidae some 3 million years ago.

Although the Wild Dog has retained the overall body pattern of the canid it has developed some unique attributes on par with its divergent evolutionary progression, such as the complete loss of the fifth toe (dewclaw) found in most canids. Another interesting feature particular to the African Wild Dog is its exceptionally large ears and unusually long legs. In spite of its divergent evolutionary path some 3 million years ago, the Wild Dog still possesses the same number of chromosomes as the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) though its myoglobin structure differs by a single amino acid.

African Wild Dog Features

Height 65 – 75 cm

Weight 18 – 28 kg

The Wild Dog displays what is known as a variegated coat which is just a fancy way of saying a multi-patterned coat. In actual fact the scientific name of the African Wild Dog Lycaon pictus literally means “the painted wolf” in obvious reference to its multi-colored multi-patterned coat of black, white and brown. The coat of the Wild Dog is typically sparse being more so in older individuals than younger. In old dogs the coat practically borders on hairlessness, especially around and on the head of such older dogs.

The coat pattern in the African Wild Dog varies considerably from individual to individual within the confines of the typical colors of white, brown and black. The one place where there is little variation is around the faces of the dogs where the color of the muzzle is usually black tapering to brown found across the cheeks and the forehead. Intriguingly enough, the color white never features anywhere on the head of the Wild Dog though it commonly occurs in other parts of the animal’s body such as behind its forelegs. Usually the tail of the wild dog is comprised of all three colors with the tip typically being white but not always so.

As previously noted, the African Wild Dog unlike true canids only has four toes having lost the dewclaw or fifth toe somewhere during its divergent evolution. Reflecting its regular and rather large consumption of bone matter, the Wild Dog has exceptionally large premolars relative to its body mass which in the carnivore world of big cats, dogs and wolves are second only to those of the Hyena in power and strength.

to be continued

Article on African Wild Dog written by Kayye Nynne

Around 54 to 38 million years ago a new line of meat-eating mammals evolved. They became known as the carnivores and were distinct from all other meat eaters for the fact they possessed a unique feature – four carnassial teeth. Only carnivorous mammals possess teeth that adapted from a crushing chewing mechanics to a tearing and ripping mechanism facilitating cutting through flesh.

Modern day carnivores are believed to have evolved from two separate ancestral lines at some point:

1. Hesperocyon which habited North America 38-26 million years ago. This was perhaps the first genus to have developed an inner-ear anatomy a feature characteristic of the canine family.

2. Amphicyon which dominated the Eurasian continent for millions of years inter-lapping the same time frame as Hesperocyon. However somewhere along the line it is believed that the Amphicyon line died out.

Around 26-7 million years ago during the Miocene era Hesperocyon evolved into 42 different genera of canines with dog-like features of which Leptocyon (12 million years ago) an evolutionary descendant of Hesperocyon eventually evolved into the Canidae from whence came the modern canids which include wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes and of course dogs.

Interestingly enough up until 10-20 million years ago bears and dogs were actually members of the same family before their evolution diverged to continue along separate paths. The ancestors of dogs are known to have evolved in response to climatic changes as well as changes to the environment. As tropical forests were superseded by vast areas of wide open savannah and steppes, so came into being the large herds of herbivores that are still present today in Africa.

Where beforehand the dog may have been a solitary hunter with the change in the environment it became expedient for the dog to evolve into a pack animal with a well formed social stratum. In this way dogs were able to successfully hunt and tackle the much larger prey that was characteristic of the grazing herds of herbivore. This pack mentality is still evident in the domestic dog as witnessed by roving packs of stray dogs in urban areas.

It is this innate ability of dogs to develop social relationships (inherited from wolves from which the domestic dog was bred) that is the basis of their success as a species!

Article on dog evolution written by Kayye Nynne