Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of northern Africa and south-central Eurasia. The Black-backed and Side-striped Jackals are more closely related to each other than they are to the Golden Jackal, which is closer to wolves, dogs, and coyotes.

Jackals and coyotes (sometimes called the "American jackal")^[1]) are opportunistic omnivores; predators of small- to medium-sized animals and proficient scavengers. Their long legs and curved canine teeth are adapted for hunting small mammals, birds, and reptiles, and their large feet and fused leg bones give them a physique well-suited for long-distance running, capable of maintaining speeds of 16 km/h (9.9 mph) for extended periods of time. Jackals are crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk.

Their most common social unit is that of a monogamous pair which defends its territory from other pairs by vigorously chasing intruding rivals and marking landmarks around the territory with their urine and feces. The territory may be large enough to hold some young adults which stay with their parents until they establish their own territories. Jackals may occasionally assemble in small packs, for example to scavenge a carcass, but they normally hunt either alone or in pairs.

Etymology

The English word "jackal" derives from Persian شغال shaghāl, via Turkish çakal,^[2] ultimately from Sanskrit शृगाल śṛgāla.^[3][4]

Taxonomy and relationships

The golden jackal is more closely related to wolves and coyotes than to other jackal species.

The taxonomy of the jackals has evolved with scientific understanding about how they are related on the canid family tree.

Similarities between jackals and coyotes led Lorenz Oken, in 1816, in the third volume of his Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte, to place these species into a new separate genus, Thos, after the classical Greek word θώς "jackal", but his theory had little immediate impact on taxonomy at the time. Angel Cabrera, in his 1932 monograph on the mammals of Morocco, questioned whether or not the presence of a cingulum on the upper molars of the jackals and its corresponding absence in the rest of Canis could justify a subdivision of the genus Canis. In practice, Cabrera chose the undivided-genus alternative and referred to the jackals as Canis instead of Thos.^[5]

Oken's Thos theory was revived in 1914 by Edmund Heller, who embraced the separate genus theory. Heller's names and the designations he gave to various jackal species and subspecies live on in current taxonomy, although the genus has been changed from Thos to Canis.^[5]

Modern research has clarified the relationships among the "jackal" species. Despite their similarities, jackals do not all stem from the same branch on the canid family tree. The side-striped jackal and black-backed jackal belong to a branch of canids that includes the dhole and African wild dog, while golden jackal, on the other hand, belongs to a branch which includes the Ethiopian wolf, the coyote, and Canis lupus, the grey wolf/domestic dog.^[6]

The intermediate size and shape of the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) has at times caused it to be regarded as a jackal, and so have been called the "red jackal" or the "simian jackal", but they are have more often been considered and called "wolves".

Interbreeding with dogs

Breeding experiments in Germany with breeding poodles and golden jackals can produce hybrids. The results showed that, unlike wolf-dog hybrids, jackal-dog hybrids show a decrease in fertility, significant communication problems, and an increase of genetic disorders after three generations of interbreeding, much like coydogs.^[7]

Relationships with humans

Folklore, mythology and literature

• Foxes and Jackals are often depicted as clever sorcerers in Eastern myths.
• Anubis (Ancient Greek: Ἄνουβις) is the Egyptian name for a jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion.
• The jackal (likely the golden jackal, given its present range) is mentioned approximately 14 times in the Bible. It is frequently used as a literary device to illustrate desolation, loneliness and abandonement, with reference to its habit of living in the ruins of former cities and other areas abandoned by humans.

Species

Species	Trinomial authority	Description	Range
Side-striped jackal Canis adustus	Sundevall, 1847	Primarily residing in wooded areas, unlike other jackal species, it is the least aggressive of the jackals, rarely preying on large mammals.[8]	Central and southern Africa
Golden jackal Canis aureus	Linnaeus, 1758	The heaviest of the jackals, it is the only species to subsist outside of Africa. Although often grouped with the other jackals, genetic and morphological research indicate the golden jackal is more closely related to the gray wolf and the coyote.[9][10]	Northern Africa, southeastern Europe, the Middle East, western Asia, and South Asia
Black-backed jackal Canis mesomelas	Schreber, 1775	The most lightly-built jackal, this is considered to be the oldest living member of the genus Canis.[11] It is the most aggressive of the jackals, having been known to attack animal prey many times its own weight, and it has more quarrelsome intrapack relationships[12]	Southern Africa and eastern coast of Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia

Footnotes

References

• The New Encyclopedia of Mammals edited by David Macdonald, Oxford University Press, 2001; ISBN 0-19-850823-9
• Cry of the Kalahari, by Mark and Delia Owens, Mariner Books, 1992.
• The Velvet Claw: A Natural History of the Carnivores, by David MacDonald, BBC Books, 1992.
• Foxes, Wolves, and Wild Dogs of the World, by David Alderton, Facts on File, 2004.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

Canis is a genus containing 7 to 10 extant species, including dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals, and many extinct species.

Timeline and Relationships (Tedford & Wang)

Wolves, dogs and dingos

Wolves, dogs, and dingoes are subspecies of Canis lupus. The original referent of the English word wolf, the Eurasian Grey Wolf, is called Canis lupus lupus to distinguish it from other wolf subspecies, such as the Iranian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), the Arabian Wolf (Canis lupus arabs), or the Tibetan Wolf (Canis lupus chanco), which are probably more similar to the variety of wolf that was ancestral to the modern dog (Canis lupus familiaris).

Some experts have suggested that some subspecies of C. lupus be considered Canis species distinct from Canis lupus. These include Central Asia's Himalayan Wolf, and the Indian Wolf, as well as the North America's Red Wolf and Eastern Wolf.

The dingo (C. lupus dingo), from Australia, and the domestic dog (C. lupus familiaris) are also considered subspecies of Canis lupus, although they themselves are not commonly referred to or thought of as "wolves".^[2]

Coyotes, jackals, and "wolves"

C. lupus is but one of many Canis species called "wolves", most of which are now extinct and little known to the general public. One of these, however, the dire wolf, has gained fame for the thousands of specimens found and displayed at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California.

The dire wolf is an example of the word "wolf" being applied loosely, i.e., to a canid which is not Canis lupus. Other examples include Canis simensis, which has undergone many popular name changes, as its intermediate morphology had caused some to think of it as a jackal or a fox; but current taxonomic and genetic consensus is reflected in its "official name", the Ethiopian wolf.

Canis species too small to attract the word "wolf" are called "coyotes" in the Americas and jackals elsewhere. Although these may not be more closely related to each other than they are to C. lupus, they are, as fellow Canis species, all more closely related to wolves and domestic dogs than they are to foxes, maned wolves, or other canids which do not belong to the Canis genus. The word "jackal" is applied to three distinct species of this group: Africa's side-striped (C. adustus), black-backed (C. mesomelas), and the golden (C. aureus) jackals, which can be found across northern Africa, southwestern and south-central Asia, and the Balkans.

While North America has only one small-sized species, the coyote (C. latrans), it has become very widespread indeed, moving into areas once occupied by wolves. They can be found across much of mainland Canada, in every state of the continental United States, all of Mexico except the Yucatán peninsula, and the Pacific and central areas of Central America, ranging as far south as northern Panama.

Etymology

The name Canis means "dog" in Latin. The word canine comes from the adjective form, caninus ("of the dog"), from which the term canine tooth is also derived.^[3] The canine family has prominent canine teeth, used for killing their prey.

Gallery

• 

  Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)

• 

  Domestic Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

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  Dingo (Canis lupus dingo) (with familiaris as "domestic dog subspecies")

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  Red Wolf (Canis lupus rufus) (includes latrans admixture)

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  Eastern Wolf (Canis lupus lycaon (often includes latrans admixture)

• 

  Dire Wolf (Canis dirus) (extinct)

• 

  Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis)

• 

  Coyote (Canis latrans)

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  Golden Jackal (Canis aureus)

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  Side-striped Jackal (Canis adustus)

• 

  Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)

See also

• Himalayan Wolf
• Indian Wolf
• List of Canis species

References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

The Iranian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) and the Indian Wolf (Canis indica) were for a long time thought to be the same species, but are now considered to be two different species, since the Indian Wolf does not interbreed with any other wolf species. Genetic testing also indicates that the Indian Wolf is a separate species from the Canis lupus pallipes found throughout the Middle East and Western Asia.^[1] It habits in Iran.

References

1. ^ http://genomebiology.com/2003/4/6/P6

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