African golden wolf, a new species of wild dog, identified

[n2doc]

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They look alike, act alike and long have been considered to be the same species. But, in the case of the golden jackals found across parts of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe, it turns out that appearances can be deceiving.

Scientists said on Thursday a comprehensive genetic analysis found that these populations are made up of two entirely distinct species, with those in Africa different from the others.

The scientific name for the golden jackal is Canis aureus. The researchers proposed renaming those in Africa Canis anthus, or the African golden wolf.

"Our results showed that African and Eurasian golden jackals were distinct across all the genetic markers we tested, including data from whole genomes, suggesting these are independently evolving lineages," said Klaus-Peter Koepfli, a conservation and evolutionary geneticist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington.

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/african-golden-wolf-a-new-species-of-wild-dog-discovered-1.3174118

[roguevalley]

1. oh, my god. How beautiful. Don't tell the dentist

[840high]

3. +1

[passiveporcupine]

2. Both species are gorgeous animals

[TygrBright]

4. Looks a bit like a larger, more refined coyote. n/t