Raccoon dogs

Abstract

Japanese raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus) have been isolated from populations (e.g., N. p. ussuriensis) on mainland Asia for about 12,000 years. Since the environment and climate of Japan differ greatly from that on mainland Asia, different selection pressures have affected the two populations. This chapter compares several features of Finnish (N. p. ussuriensis, originally from SE Russia) and Japanese raccoon dogs to evaluate the progress of the Japanese raccoon dog towards speciation. It reviews the chromosome number, skull and tooth morphology, body size and weight, the ability to hibernate, reproduction, home ranges, habitat use, and diet of Japanese and Finnish raccoon dogs.

Going west—invasion genetics of the alien raccoon dog Nyctereutes procynoides in Europe

“…The European invasion has increased the range and population size of raccoon dogs (Kauhala and Saeki 2004). Contrary to this observation, our data indicate that the European population has not grown much since colonisation.…”

“…It occurs also in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania. It is sporadically seen in Sweden, Austria, Bosnia, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Slovenia and Switzerland (Mitchell-Jones et al 1999;Kauhala and Saeki 2004). Recently, the raccoon dog has reached Macedonia and Italy (Cirovic 2006;Lapini 2006).…”

Population genetic study of the raccoon dog (<i>Nyctereutes procyonoides</i>) in South Korea using newly developed 12 microsatellite markers

“…Although plentiful ecological studies and some phylogenetic research with mitochondrial DNA on raccoon dog have been conducted, there are no previous data on the population structure using microsatellite markers (Kahula and Saeki, 2004). Moreover, canine-derived microsatellite markers applied in raccoon dog (N. p. procyonides) (Rogalska-Niznik et al, 2003;Szczerbal et al, 2003) were not profitable to apply to our raccoon dog samples as some markers failed for amplification or the other amplified products were monomorphic.…”

“…Studies of genetic structure provide useful information on dispersal patterns or range expansion of the population (Gillespie, 1975). However, there are currently no data on the structure or demographical trends of N. p. koreensis (Kahula and Saeki, 2004). To investigate genetic diversity and population structure, we analyzed raccoon dog populations in South Korea using polymorphic genetic markers.…”

Re-examination of the fossil raccoon dog (<i>Nyctereutes procyonoides</i>) from the Penghu channel, Taiwan, and an age estimation of the Penghu fauna

“…Extant raccoon dogs are separated into two kinds of karyotypes: continental and Japanese subspecies (Kauhala and Saeki, 2004;Saeki, 2009). Genetic studies also support the fact that continental and Japanese subspecies are separated (Kurose et al, 2012;Kim, 2011;Kim et al, 2013).…”