Jackals arecanids native toAfrica andEurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribecanina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely relatedblack-backed jackal (Lupulella mesomelas) andside-striped jackal (Lupulella adusta) ofCentral andSouthern Africa, and thegolden jackal (Canis aureus) of south-central Europe and Asia. The Africangolden wolf (Canis lupaster) was also formerly considered a jackal.
While they do not form amonophyleticclade, all jackals are opportunistic omnivores, predators of small to medium-sized animals and proficientscavengers. Their long legs and curvedcanine teeth are adapted for hunting smallmammals, birds, andreptiles, 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 arecrepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk.
Their most common social unit is amonogamous pair, which defends its territory from other pairs by vigorously chasing intruders andmarking landmarks around theterritory with theirurine andfeces. 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 smallpacks, for example, to scavenge a carcass, but they normally hunt either alone or in pairs.
Similarities between jackals and coyotes ledLorenz Oken, in the third volume of hisLehrbuch der Naturgeschichte (1815), to place these species into a new separate genus,Thos, named after the classical Greek wordθώς "jackal", but his theory had little immediate impact on taxonomy at the time.Angel Cabrera, in his 1932 monograph on the mammals ofMorocco, questioned whether or not the presence of acingulum on the uppermolars of the jackals and its corresponding absence in the rest ofCanis could justify a subdivision of that genus. In practice, Cabrera chose the undivided-genus alternative and referred to the jackals asCanis instead ofThos.[5]
Oken'sThos theory was revived in 1914 byEdmund 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 fromThos toCanis.[5]
The wolf-like canids are a group of large carnivores that are genetically closely related. They all have 78chromosomes. The group includes genusCanis,Cuon, andLycaon. The members are thedog(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), andAfrican wild dog (Lycaon pictus).[6] The latest recognized member is theAfrican 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 genusCanis arekaryologically indistinguishable from each other, and from the dhole and the African hunting dog.[7][8] The two African jackals are shown to be the mostbasal 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 ofCanis with respect toLycaon andCuon has led to suggestions that the two African jackals should be assigned to different genera,Schaeffia for the side-striped jackal andLupulella for the black-backed jackal[10] orLupulella 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".
The most lightly built jackal, once considered to be the oldest living member of the genusCanis,[13] it is now placed in the genusLupulella. 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]
Likefoxes and coyotes, jackals are often depicted as clever sorcerers in the myths and legends of their regions. They are mentioned roughly 14 times in theBible. 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 theKing James Bible, Isaiah 13:21 refers to 'doleful creatures', which some commentators suggest are either jackals orhyenas.[16]
In the IndianPanchatantra stories, the jackal is mentioned as wily and wise.[17] In Bengali tantrik tradition, they represent the goddessKali. It is said she appears as jackals when meat is offered to her.
InNonviolent Communication (NVC) the Jackal is used to represent our inner judgmental voice. The Jackal represents our inner thoughts and stories about others and ourselves.Marshall Rosenberg, the father of NVC, said that he came up with the metaphor of the Jackal when traveling in Europe and one of his workshop participants were complaining about her husband when Marshall asked "are you still dealing with that old jackal?". Since then he routinely used the Jackal to present the counterpart to the nonviolent giraffe in NVC.[19]
^abLindblad-Toh, K.; Wade, C. M.; Mikkelsen, T. S.; Karlsson, E. K.; Jaffe, D. B.; Kamal, M.; 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.PMID16341006.
^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.PMID7151489.
^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.S2CID84733263.
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