CANIDAE INFORMATION:
Compiled by: David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director
Edited by: Carel P. Brest van Kempen and Rob Mullen
Canines are carnivorous mammals that include domestic dogs, wolves (the ancestors of
dogs), wild dogs (e.g., the African wild dog or dingo), coyotes, foxes, and jackals.
Together these animals constitute the family Canidae. A species within that family is
called a “canid.” The word “canine” is usually used as an adjective in formal, technical
language. Informally, it is used as a synonym for “canid.” The word “breed” is intended
to designate varieties of animals or plants within a species engineered by man (as
opposed to the word “species,” which designates natural varieties). In scientific
nomenclature (naming), the first and capitalized name is the genus name. The second uncapitalized
name is the species; then comes the subspecies if any. Some authorities,
including the American Society of Mammalogists, classify domestic dogs as a subspecies
of gray wolf, giving it the scientific name Canis lupus familiaris.
Dogs are distinguished from wild canines by their worldwide distribution in close
association with humans and by their enormous genetic variability and physical variation.
All canids possess similar potential for such genetic variability. However, human
intervention in the form of guided selection has allowed this to be expressed to its fullest
potential in dogs. By picking the most friendly and trainable wolves, humans created the
dog. Some of the most beloved physical traits we associate with dogs are puppy features
such as floppy ears, large eyes, and soft fur. It is probable that the dog was the first
animal to be domesticated. Archeologists have discovered strong evidence that
domestication began in the form of cooperative association between wolves and humans
approximately 15,000 years ago, and that the earliest dogs resembled something like the
dingo (found in Australia) or perhaps the Asian wolf, though it is entirely possible that
domestication could have arisen independently in other parts of the world.
During the centuries that ensued, dogs were selectively bred for submissiveness and
trainability, and used in any number of ways: draft animals, guard dogs, attack dogs,
rescue dogs, shepherds, retrievers, guide dogs, and companions. Today, the American
Kennel Club recognizes more than 150 of the more than 2,000 known breeds of dogs.
The AKC has grouped these into eight classes: Sporting, Non-sporting, Hound, Terrier,
Working, Herding, Toy, and Miscellaneous. Purebreds conform to the standards of the
respective breed the pedigree of which has been recorded for a certain period of time.
Dogs of mixed origin are called mongrels. Domestic dogs vary in size from the tiny
Chihuahua, the tiniest of which, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, has
been recorded at less than 6” long, to the enormous English mastiff, which has been
recorded as large as 282 pounds. Dogs have a variety of body types, hair lengths, colors
and patterns, not to mention attitudes, behaviors and activities that make them wonderful
subjects for art.
Wolves were formerly the most widely distributed terrestrial mammal in the world.
There are many wolf subspecies, the two main ones being the gray wolf and the red wolf.
Similar in appearance and sometimes called the prairie wolf, the coyote (Canis latrans) is
considered by many experts a separate species altogether, even though coyotes, wolves,
and dogs can all produce fertile offspring when crossed with each other. Among the
factors considered for that choice are dental patterns and gene frequencies. Still, other
experts consider coyotes to be a wolf subspecies. The problem stems from the fact that
taxonomy (the classification of organisms) is an abstraction of nature for science rather
than nature itself, and as such, doesn’t match nature perfectly. The gray wolf (Canis
lupus), also called the timber wolf in North America, resembles a long-legged cross
somewhat between a German shepherd, malamute or husky, with a shaggy coat, erect
ears, and a bushy tail. Ruthless hunting exacerbated by bounties nearly exterminated the
gray wolf in the lower 48 United States. Today, its very existence is a hot point of
contention even in sparsely populated areas such as Wyoming.
The coyote is found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, wetlands, and brush country.
Resembling a medium-sized dog with a pointed face, thick fur, and a black-tipped, bushy
tail, the coyote is common throughout most of Alaska and Canada, the entire lower fortyeight
United States, and Central America. Though reduced in number in New England
before conservation, coyotes have re-emerged there in recent time. Ironically, coyotes
there tend to be larger than in the West. Some researchers theorize that those coyotes
have crossed with dogs and wolves, and that this accounts for their size; others theorize
this is a result of greater food availability. Considered dangerous to livestock, coyotes
have been and continue to be killed by the thousands each year. Among Native Peoples
of North America, coyotes hold special status as “tricksters.”
Foxes are found worldwide, except Antarctica and the Australasian region. Most belong
to the red fox group, though other species also exist as shown in this exhibition. These
include the true foxes of the genus Vulpes, which are distributed throughout the Northern
Hemisphere, as well several unrelated groups of small canines, including the American
gray foxes. CANIDAE INFORMATION:
Compiled by: David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director
Edited by: Carel P. Brest van Kempen and Rob Mullen |
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