Jackal

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Jackal
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Golden jackal (Canis aureus)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Caninae
Tribe: Canini
Subtribe: Canina
Species referred to as jackals
Jackals.png

Jackals are canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed jackal (Lupulella mesomelas) and side-striped jackal (Lupulella adusta) of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal (Canis aureus) of south-central Europe and Asia. The African golden wolf (Canis lupaster) was also formerly considered as a jackal.

Contents

While they do not form a monophyletic clade, all jackals are opportunistic omnivores, predators of small to medium-sized animals and proficient scavengers. Their long legs and curved canine teeth are adapted for hunting small mammals, birds, and reptiles, and their large feet and fused leg bones give them a physique well-suited for long-distance running, capable of maintaining speeds of 16 km/h (10 mph) for extended periods of time. Jackals are crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk.

Their most common social unit is a monogamous pair, which defends its territory from other pairs by vigorously chasing intruders and marking landmarks around the territory with their urine and feces. The territory may be large enough to hold some young adults, which stay with their parents until they establish their own territories. Jackals may occasionally assemble in small packs, for example, to scavenge a carcass, but they normally hunt either alone or in pairs.

Etymology

The English word "jackal" dates back to 1600 and derives from the French chacal, from Turkish çakal, derived from the Persian شغالshoghāl, which is in turn derived from the Sanskrit शृगाल śṛgāla meaning "the howler". [1] [2]

Taxonomy and relationships

The extant wolf-like canids
Phylogenetic relationships between the extant wolf-like clade of canids based on mitochondrial DNA. [3] [4]

Similarities between jackals and coyotes led Lorenz Oken, in the third volume of his Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte (1815), to place these species into a new separate genus, Thos, named after the classical Greek word θώς "jackal", but his theory had little immediate impact on taxonomy at the time. Angel Cabrera, in his 1932 monograph on the mammals of Morocco, questioned whether or not the presence of a cingulum on the upper molars of the jackals and its corresponding absence in the rest of Canis could justify a subdivision of that genus. In practice, Cabrera chose the undivided-genus alternative and referred to the jackals as Canis instead of Thos. [5]

Oken's Thos theory was revived in 1914 by Edmund Heller, who embraced the separate genus theory. Heller's names and the designations he gave to various jackal species and subspecies live on in current taxonomy, although the genus has been changed from Thos to Canis. [5]

The wolf-like canids are a group of large carnivores that are genetically closely related because they all have 78 chromosomes. The group includes genus Canis, Cuon, and Lycaon. The members are the dog (C. lupus familiaris), gray wolf (C. lupus), coyote (C. latrans), golden jackal (C. aureus), Ethiopian wolf (C. simensis), black-backed jackal (C. mesomelas), side-striped jackal (C. adustus), dhole (Cuon alpinus), and African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). [6] The latest recognized member is the African wolf (C. lupaster), which was once thought to be an African branch of the golden jackal. [4] As they possess 78 chromosomes, all members of the genus Canis are karyologically indistinguishable from each other, and from the dhole and the African hunting dog. [7] [8] The two African jackals are shown to be the most basal members of this clade, indicating the clade's origin from Africa. [3] Canis arnensis arrived in Mediterranean Europe 1.9 million years ago and is probably the ancestor of modern jackals. [9]

The paraphyletic nature of Canis with respect to Lycaon and Cuon has led to suggestions that the two African jackals should be assigned to different genera, Schaeffia for the side-striped jackal and Lupulella for the black-backed jackal [10] [11] or Lupulella for both. [11] [12]

The intermediate size and shape of the Ethiopian wolf has at times led it to be regarded as a jackal, thus it has also been called the "red jackal" or the "Simien jackal".

Species

SpeciesBinomial authorityDescriptionRange
Black-backed jackal
Lupulella mesomelas

L. m. mesomelas, Sunday's River Valley Local Municipality 3.jpg

Schreber, 1775The most lightly built jackal, once considered to be the oldest living member of the genus Canis, [13] it is now placed in the genus Lupulella. It is the most aggressive of the jackals, being known to attack animal prey many times its own weight, and it has more quarrelsome intrapack relationships. [14] Southern Africa and eastern coast of Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia
Side-striped jackal
Lupulella adustus
CANIS ADUSTUS dans le park zoologique de kinshasa (cropped).jpg 		Sundevall, 1847It primarily resides in wooded areas, unlike other jackal species. It is the least aggressive of the jackals, rarely preying on large mammals. [15] Central and southern Africa
Golden jackal
Canis aureus
Golden jackal in Jorasi Range.jpeg 		Linnaeus, 1758The largest and most widespread of the jackals, it is more closely related to wolves than to African jackal species. Southeastern Europe, Middle East, western Asia, and South Asia

Folklore and literature

Like foxes and coyotes, jackals are often depicted as clever sorcerers in the myths and legends of their regions. They are mentioned roughly 14 times in the Bible. It is frequently used as a literary device to illustrate desolation, loneliness, and abandonment, with reference to its habit of living in the ruins of former cities and other areas abandoned by humans. It is called "wild dog" in several translations of the Bible. In the King James Bible, Isaiah 13:21 refers to 'doleful creatures', which some commentators suggest are either jackals or hyenas. [16]

In the Indian Panchatantra stories, the jackal is mentioned as wily and wise. [17] In Bengali tantrik tradition, they represent the goddess Kali. It is said she appears as jackals when meat is offered to her.

The Serer religion and creation myth posits jackals were among the first animals created by Roog, the supreme deity of the Serer people. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canidae</span> Family of mammals

Canidae is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid. The family includes three subfamilies: the Caninae, the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. The Caninae are known as canines, and include domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals and other species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhole</span> Species of mammal

The dhole is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. It is genetically close to species within the genus Canis, but distinct in several anatomical aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third lower molar and the upper molars possess only a single cusp as opposed to between two and four. During the Pleistocene, the dhole ranged throughout Asia, with its range also extending into Europe but became restricted to its historical range 12,000–18,000 years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox</span> Genera of mammal

Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail ("brush").

<i>Canis</i> Genus of carnivores

Canis is a genus of the Caninae which includes multiple extant species, such as wolves, dogs, coyotes, and golden jackals. Species of this genus are distinguished by their moderate to large size, their massive, well-developed skulls and dentition, long legs, and comparatively short ears and tails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian wolf</span> Canine native to Ethiopian Highlands

The Ethiopian wolf, also called the red jackal, the Simien jackal or Simien fox, is a canine native to the Ethiopian Highlands. In southeastern Ethiopia, it is also known as the horse jackal. It is similar to the coyote in size and build, and is distinguished by its long and narrow skull, and its red and white fur. Unlike most large canids, which are widespread, generalist feeders, the Ethiopian wolf is a highly specialised feeder of Afroalpine rodents with very specific habitat requirements. It is one of the world's rarest canids, and Africa's most endangered carnivore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-backed jackal</span> Species of carnivore

The black-backed jackal, also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden jackal</span> Species of mammal

The golden jackal, also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller and has shorter legs, a shorter tail, a more elongated torso, a less-prominent forehead, and a narrower and more pointed muzzle than the Arabian wolf. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its widespread distribution and high density in areas with plenty of available food and optimum shelter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Side-striped jackal</span> Canine native to Africa

The side-striped jackal is a canine native to central and southern Africa.

Canid hybrids are the result of interbreeding between the species of the subfamily Caninae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caninae</span> Subfamily of carnivores

The Caninae, known as canines, are one of three subfamilies found within the canid family. The other two canid subfamilies are the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. The Caninae includes all living canids and their most recent fossil relatives. Their fossils were first found in North America and dated to the Oligocene era, then spreading to Asia at the end of the Miocene era, some 7 million to 8 million years ago.

<i>Xenocyon</i> Extinct subgenus of carnivores

Xenocyon is an extinct group of canids, either considered a distinct genus or a subgenus of Canis. The group includes Canis (Xenocyon) africanus, Canis (Xenocyon) antonii and Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri that gave rise to Canis (Xenocyon) lycanoides. The hypercarnivorous Xenocyon is thought to be closely related and possibly ancestral to modern dhole and the African wild dog, as well as the insular Sardinian dhole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African wild dog</span> Endangered species of canine native to Africa

The African wild dog, also known as the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus Lycaon, which is distinguished from Canis by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet and by a lack of dewclaws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African wolf</span> Species of canine native to Africa

The African wolf is a canine native to North Africa, West Africa, the Sahel, northern East Africa, and the Horn of Africa. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. In the Middle Atlas in Morocco, it was sighted in elevations as high as 1,800 m (5,900 ft). It is primarily a predator of invertebrates and mammals as large as gazelle fawns, though larger animals are sometimes taken. Its diet also includes animal carcasses, human refuse, and fruit. They are monogamous and territorial; offspring remain with the parents to assist in raising their parents' younger pups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of the wolf</span>

The evolution of the wolf occurred over a geologic time scale of at least 300 thousand years. The grey wolf Canis lupus is a highly adaptable species that is able to exist in a range of environments and which possesses a wide distribution across the Holarctic. Studies of modern grey wolves have identified distinct sub-populations that live in close proximity to each other. This variation in sub-populations is closely linked to differences in habitat – precipitation, temperature, vegetation, and prey specialization – which affect cranio-dental plasticity.

<i>Canis arnensis</i> Extinct species of carnivore

Canis arnensis, the Arno River dog, is an extinct species of canine that was endemic to Mediterranean Europe during the Early Pleistocene. The Arno River dog has been described as a small jackal-like dog. Its anatomy and morphology relate it more to the modern golden jackal than to the larger Etruscan wolf of that time. It is probably the ancestor of modern jackals.

<i>Canis etruscus</i> Extinct species of carnivore

Canis etruscus, the Etruscan wolf, is an extinct species of canine that was endemic to Mediterranean Europe during the Early Pleistocene. The Etruscan wolf is described as a small wolf-like dog.

<i>Canis mosbachensis</i> Extinct species of carnivore

Canis mosbachensis is an extinct wolf that once inhabited Europe 600,000—420,000 years ago. The Mosbach wolf was a short-legged carcass feeder adapted for scavenging megafauna on the mammoth steppe. The Mosbach wolf is proposed as the ancestor of the grey wolf Canis lupus but some mammalogists have assigned it as the subspecies Canis lupus mosbachensis.

This is a list of the species of Canidae ordered by average weights of adult individuals in the wild. It does not include canid hybrids or any domesticated animals. Only wild species of canids are included, all of which are described as species by authentic sources.

<i>Lupulella</i> Genus of jackals native to Africa

Lupulella is a genus of canine found in Africa. This genus consists of only two extant species, the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal.

References

  1. ↑ "jackal". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
  2. ↑ Harper, Douglas. "jackal". Online Etymology Dictionary .
  3. 1 2 Lindblad-Toh, K.; Wade, C. M.; Mikkelsen, T. S.; Karlsson, E. K.; Jaffe, D. B.; Kamal, M. Jdjndnd; Clamp, M.; Chang, J. L.; Kulbokas, E. J.; Zody, M. C.; Mauceli, E.; Xie, X.; Breen, M.; Wayne, R. K.; Ostrander, E. A.; Ponting, C. P.; Galibert, F.; Smith, D. R.; Dejong, P. J.; Kirkness, E.; Alvarez, P.; Biagi, T.; Brockman, W.; Butler, J.; Chin, C. W.; Cook, A.; Cuff, J.; Daly, M. J.; Decaprio, D.; et al. (2005). "Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog". Nature. 438 (7069): 803–819. Bibcode:2005Natur.438..803L. doi: 10.1038/nature04338 . PMID   16341006.
  4. 1 2 Koepfli, K.-P.; Pollinger, J.; Godinho, R.; Robinson, J.; Lea, A.; Hendricks, S.; Schweizer, R. M.; Thalmann, O.; Silva, P.; Fan, Z.; Yurchenko, A. A.; Dobrynin, P.; Makunin, A.; Cahill, J. A.; Shapiro, B.; Álvares, F.; Brito, J. C.; Geffen, E.; Leonard, J. A.; Helgen, K. M.; Johnson, W. E.; O’Brien, S. J.; Van Valkenburgh, B.; Wayne, R. K. (2015-08-17). "Genome-wide Evidence Reveals that African and Eurasian Golden Jackals Are Distinct Species". Current Biology. 25 (16): 2158–65. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.060 . PMID   26234211.
  5. 1 2 "None". Archived from the original on April 16, 2008.
  6. ↑ Wayne, R. (1993). "Molecular evolution of the dog family". Trends in Genetics. 9 (6): 218–24. doi:10.1016/0168-9525(93)90122-X. PMID   8337763.
  7. ↑ Robert K. Wayne; Jennifer A. Leonard; Carles Vila (2006). "Chapter 19:Genetic Analysis of Dog Domestication". In Melinda A. Zeder (ed.). Documenting Domestication:New Genetic and Archaeological Paradigms. University of California Press. pp. 279–295. ISBN   978-0-520-24638-6.
  8. ↑ Wurster-Hill, D. H.; Centerwall, W. R. (1982). "The interrelationships of chromosome banding patterns in canids, mustelids, hyena, and felids". Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics. 34 (1–2): 178–192. doi:10.1159/000131806. PMID   7151489.
  9. ↑ Bartolini Lucenti, Saverio; Rook, Lorenzo (2016-11-01). "A review on the Late Villafranchian medium-sized canid Canis arnensis based on the evidence from Poggio Rosso (Tuscany, Italy)". Quaternary Science Reviews. 151: 58–71. Bibcode:2016QSRv..151...58B. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.09.005. ISSN   0277-3791.
  10. ↑ Zrzavy, J.; Ricankova, V. (2004). "Phylogeny of recent Canidae (Mammalia, Carnivora): relative reliability and the utility of morphological and molecular datasets". Zool. Scr. 33 (4): 311–333. doi:10.1111/j.0300-3256.2004.00152.x. S2CID   84733263.
  11. 1 2 Privosti, Francisco J. (2010). "Phylogeny of the large extinct South American Canids (Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae) using a total evidence approach". Cladistics. 26 (5): 456–481. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00298.x . PMID   34875763. S2CID   86650539.
  12. ↑ Viranta, S., Atickem, A., Werdelin, L., & Stenseth, N. C. (2017). Rediscovering a forgotten canid species. BMC Zoology, 2(1), 6.
  13. ↑ Macdonald, David (1992). The Velvet Claw . p.  256. ISBN   978-0-563-20844-0.
  14. ↑ Estes, Richard (1992). The behavior guide to African mammals: including hoofed mammals, carnivores, primates . University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-08085-0.
  15. ↑ "Side-Striped Jackal" (PDF). Canids.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  16. ↑ "Jackal", classic.net.bible.org; accessed 26 February 2015.
  17. ↑ Roshen Dalal (18 April 2014). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin UK. p. 189. ISBN   9788184752779.
  18. ↑ Thiaw, Issa laye (23–24 June 2009), "Mythe de la création du monde selon les sages sereer" (PDF), Enracinement et Ouverture — "Plaidoyer pour le dialogue interreligieux" (in French), Dakar: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, pp. 45–50

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