| Canines | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| The three extant caninetribes: tribeCanini, the dog-like canines (represented by ablack-backed jackal); tribeVulpini, the fox-like canines (represented by ared fox); and tribeUrocyonini, represented by agray fox. | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subfamily: | Caninae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 |
| Genera andsubgenera[2][page needed][3][4][5] | |
| |
Caninae (whose members are known ascanines (/keɪnaɪnz/)[6]: 182 is the only living subfamily withinCanidae, alongside the extinctBorophaginae andHesperocyoninae.[7][1] They first appeared in North America, during theOligocene around 35 million years ago, subsequently spreading to Asia and elsewhere in theOld World at the end of theMiocene,[6]: 122 some 7 million to 8 million years ago.[7]
| Canid subfamilies |
The genusLeptocyon (Greek:leptos slender +cyon dog) includes 11 species and was the first primitive canine. They were small and weighed around 2 kg.[6]: 53 They first appeared in Sioux County, Nebraska in theOrellan era 34-32 million years ago, which was the beginning of theOligocene.[1] This was the same time as the appearance of the Borophaginae with whom they share features, indicating that these were two sister groups. Borophaginae skull and dentition were designed for a powerful killing bite compared with theLeptocyon which were designed for snatching small, fast-moving prey. The speciesL. delicatus is the smallest canid to have existed. At the close of their genus 9 million years ago oneLeptocyon lineage resembled the modern fox.[6]: 53 The various species ofLeptocyon branched 11.9 Mya into Vulpini (foxes) and Canini (canines).[1]: 174–175
The canines spent two-thirds of their history in North America, before dispersing 7 million years ago into Asia, Europe, and Africa. One of the characteristics that distinguished them from the Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae was their possession of less weight in their limbs and more length in their legs, which may have aided their dispersion. The first canine to arrive in Eurasia was the coyote-sizedCanis cipio, whose scant fossils were found in Spain. However, the assignment ofC. cipio within the canines to the genusCanis or genusEucyon is not clear.[6]: 143–144
The results ofallozyme andchromosome analyses have previously suggested severalphylogenetic divisions:
| Divisions | Description | Image | Genus | Species |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SubtribeCanina[8] | Thewolf and wolf-like canines |  | CanisLinnaeus, 1758 | |
_cropped.jpg) | CuonHodgson, 1838 | |||
.jpg) | LycaonBrookes, 1827 | |||
.jpg) | LupulellaHilzheimer, 1906 | |||
| SubtribeCerdocyonina[8] | The South American canines |  | SpeothosLund, 1839 | |
.jpg) | LycalopexBurmeister 1854 | |||
.JPG) | CerdocyonC. E. H. Smith, 1839 | |||
 | ChrysocyonSmith, 1839 | |||
 | AtelocynusCabrera, 1940 | |||
| TribeVulpini[8] | The fox-like canines | .jpg) | NyctereutesTemminck, 1838 | |
.jpg) | OtocyonS. Müller, 1835 | |||
 | VulpesGarsault, 1764 | |||
| GenusUrocyon[8] | Gray foxes |  | UrocyonBaird, 1857 |
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DNA analysis shows that the first three formmonophyleticclades. The wolf-like canines and the South American canines together form the tribe Canini.[9] Molecular data imply a North American origin of living Canidae some 10 Mya and an African origin of wolf-like canines (Canis,Cuon, andLycaon), with the jackals being the mostbasal of this group.
The South American clade is rooted by the maned wolf and bush dog, and the fox-like canines by the fennec fox and Blanford's fox. The gray fox and island fox are basal to the other clades; however, this topological difference is not strongly supported.[10]
The cladogram below is based on the phylogeny of Lindblad-Toh (2005)[10] modified to incorporate recent findings onCanis,[11]Vulpes,[12]Lycalopex species,[13] andDusicyon.[14]
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