The systematic position of Canis aureus lupaster (Carnivora : Canidae) and the occurrence of Canis lupus in North Africa, Egypt and Sinai

Genome-wide Evidence Reveals that African and Eurasian Golden Jackals Are Distinct Species

“…These results were consistent with earlier findings based on morphological and zoogeographic evidence that had suggested the large jackals of Egypt (C. aureus lupaster) were actually a small-sized subspecies of gray wolf [3]. However, this conclusion leaves the position of golden jackal populations in East Africa problematic, as they were never considered distinct from conspecifics in Eurasia.…”

“…However, this conclusion leaves the position of golden jackal populations in East Africa problematic, as they were never considered distinct from conspecifics in Eurasia. Consequently, either both golden jackal and African wolf occur in Africa, as has been suggested [2,3], or these represent a single polytypic species. The former scenario suggests separate invasions of wolf-and jackal-like forms into North and East Africa, whereas the latter scenario suggests stable coexistence of distinct morphs within the same species that evolved in situ.…”

“…Furthermore, we suggest that the common names ''African golden wolf'' (C. anthus) and ''Eurasian golden jackal'' (C. aureus) be applied to distinguish these taxa, and to distinguish the former from the Ethiopian wolf (C. simensis). We propose that the African golden wolf is distributed across Africa and includes individuals that have been referred to as C. lupus lupaster [1][2][3] or C. aureus, sensu lato. Morphologic parallelism of African golden wolves and Eurasian golden jackals may have resulted in their mistaken attribution to a single species in most taxonomic treatments since C. aureus was first formally described by Linnaeus [15].…”

Rediscovering a forgotten canid species

“…Previous authors have alternated between Canis lupaster (e.g., [13,14,38]) and Canis anthus [13]. Of these, C. anthus F. Cuvier, 1820 [10] has priority.…”

“…Allen's viewpoint was rapidly accepted in both the ecological and evolutionary research communities and since that time few authors have considered the African wolf a distinct species, despite there being a few notable exceptions: Keimer mentions C. lupaster in his faunal work on Egypt [45]; Kurtén lists the wolf jackal (C. lupaster) for a fossil collection from the Levant and suggests the presence of extant C. lupaster in North Africa [46]; Ferguson studied C. lupaster crania from Israel and concluded that C. aureus lupaster differs from C. aureus and represents a small desert race of C. lupus [38]. Most recently an m1 from Middle Pleistocene deposits in the Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia, has been identified as C. anthus [47].…”