Scientists Determine Golden Jackals of East Africa and Eurasia Are Different Species

Posted on July 30, 2015

Scientists have determined that golden jackals of East Africa and Eurasia are two different species. The scientists used DNA evidence to determine the jackals are two entirely different species. The finding increases the number of living Canidea species from 35 to 36. The African species has been named the African golden wolf. A golden jackal (Canis aureus) is pictured above and the newly identified golden wolf (Canis anthus) is pictured below.

The study was led by Klaus-Peter Koepfli of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and Robert Wayne of the University of California, Los Angeles. Koepfli says in a statement, "This represents the first discovery of a 'new' canid species in Africa in over 150 years."

Koepfli and Wayne say in a release that they suspect zoologists had mistaken African and Eurasian golden jackals for the same species because they have similar skull and tooth morphology. The genetic data shows they have two separate lineages that have been evolving independently for over a million years. The new canid family tree suggests the two lineages are not closely related. The African species is more closely related to the lineage leading to gray wolves and coyotes than jackals. This is why they have been named African golden wolves.

Wayne says in a statement, "To our surprise, the small, golden-like jackal from eastern African was actually a small variety of a new species, distinct from the gray wolf, that has a distribution across North and East Africa."

A research paper on the findings can be found here in the journal, Current Biology.

ANIMALS