The Wayward Dog: Is the Australian native dog or Dingo a distinct species?

The taxonomic identity and status of the Australian Dingo has been unsettled and controversial since its initial description in 1792. Since that time it has been referred to by various names including Canis dingo, Canis lupus dingo, Canis familiaris and Canis familiaris dingo. Of these names C. l. dingo and C. f. dingo have been most often used, but it has recently been proposed that the Australian Dingo should be once again recognized as a full species—Canis dingo. There is an urgent need to address the instability of the names referring to the Dingo because of the consequences for management and policy. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the morphological, genetic, ecological and biological data to determine the taxonomic relationships of the Dingo with the aim of confirming the correct scientific name. The recent proposal for Canis dingo as the most appropriate name is not sustainable under zoological nomenclature protocols nor based on the genetic and morphological evidence. Instead we proffer the name C. familiaris for all free-ranging dogs, regardless of breed and location throughout the world, including the Australian Dingo. The suggested nomenclature also provides a framework for managing free-ranging dogs including Dingoes, under Australian legislation and policy. The broad principles of nomenclature we discuss here apply to all free-roaming dogs that coexist with their hybrids, including the New Guinea Singing Dog.

Download Full-text

Taxonomy of the Dingo: It’s an ancient dog

Australian Zoologist ◽

10.7882/az.2020.049 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Stephen M. Jackson ◽

Peter J.S. Fleming ◽

Mark D.B. Eldridge ◽

Michael Archer ◽

Sandy Ingleby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Canis Lupus ◽

Canis Familiaris ◽

Morphological Differentiation ◽

Distinct Species ◽

Domestic Dog ◽

Canis Lupus Familiaris ◽

Living Things ◽

Scientific Approach ◽

Scientific Name

ABSTRACT Taxonomy is the science of the classification of living things and comprises two main processes, defining taxa and naming them. In relation to the taxonomy of the Dingo, the scientific name has been unstable for many years. It has been referred to as Canis familiaris, Canis familiaris dingo, Canis lupus familiaris, Canis lupus dingo or Canis dingo. The nomenclature, however, has become even more unstable in recent years with advocacy for the name Canis dingo by some authors in spite of a lack of morphological differentiation or interfertility between Dingo and Domestic Dog hybrids. As a result, there is a need to review the taxonomy of the Dingo with the aim of confirming its correct scientific name in order to promote stability. Using the most widely accepted species concepts, we reviewed the taxonomy of the Dingo by objectively dissecting each of the proposed arguments for recognising the Dingo as a distinct species. We conclude that the most appropriate taxonomic name to use for the Dingo is Canis familiaris, and that this binomial is the appropriate taxonomic name for all ancient and modern dog breeds, their hybrids and wild-living derivatives. It is important to highlight that correct taxonomy is an important part of on-ground conservation and management of wildlife. However, the taxonomy used as a basis for management decisions needs to be based on a consistent and evidence-based scientific approach and not other factors.

Download Full-text

Detecting Hybridization between Iranian Wild Wolf (Canis Lupus Pallipes) and Free-Ranging Domestic Dog (Canis Familiaris) by Analysis of Microsatellite Markers

ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE ◽

10.2108/zsj.30.27 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 27-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Rasoul Khosravi ◽

Hamid Reza Rezaei ◽

Mohammad Kaboli

Keyword(s):

Microsatellite Markers ◽

Canis Lupus ◽

Canis Familiaris ◽

Domestic Dog ◽

Free Ranging

Download Full-text

Supplemental Material for Sociability of Indian Free-Ranging Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) Varies With Human Movement in Urban Areas

Journal of Comparative Psychology ◽

10.1037/com0000241.supp ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Canis Lupus ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Human Movement ◽

Canis Lupus Familiaris ◽

Free Ranging

Download Full-text

Spatial and temporal dynamics of space use by free‐ranging domestic dogs Canis familiaris in rural Africa

Ecological Applications ◽

10.1002/eap.2328 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jared K. Wilson‐Aggarwal ◽

Cecily E.D. Goodwin ◽

Tchonfienet Moundai ◽

Metinou K. Sidouin ◽

George J.F. Swan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Canis Familiaris ◽

Space Use ◽

Domestic Dogs ◽

Spatial And Temporal Dynamics ◽

Rural Africa ◽

Free Ranging

Download Full-text

Mitochondrial phylogeny and taxonomic revision of Italian and Slovenian fluvio-lacustrine barbels, Barbus sp. (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae)

BMC Zoology ◽

10.1186/s40850-021-00073-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Giovanni Rossi ◽

Federico Plazzi ◽

Gianluca Zuffi ◽

Andrea Marchi ◽

Salvatore De Bonis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Nuclear Data ◽

Distinct Species ◽

Sensu Stricto ◽

Zoological Nomenclature ◽

Conservation Policies ◽

D Loop ◽

Cyprinid Fishes ◽

Northern Croatia ◽

And Control

Abstract Background Barbels are ray finned cyprinid fishes of the Old-World with partially unresolved, intricate taxonomy. Within the Barbus sensu lato paraphyletic assemblage, Barbus sensu stricto is a monophyletic tetraploid lineage of Europe, northern Africa and Middle East, including two monophyletic sibling genera: Barbus and Luciobarbus. Italy, Slovenia and northern Croatia are natively inhabited by several entities of the genus Barbus, whose relationships and taxonomic ranks are still unclear. Aim of the present work is to focus on phylogeography of Italian and Slovenian barbels, with an appraisal of their current taxonomy. Results One hundred fifty specimens were collected in 78 sampling sites from 33 main watersheds, widely distributed along Italian and Slovenian ichthyogeographic districts. We amplified two mitochondrial markers, cytochrome b (cytb) and control region (D-loop), to infer a robust phylogeny for our sample and investigate on species delimitation. Our results strongly indicate all Italian and Adriatic Slovenian fluvio-lacustrine barbels to be comprised into at least three distinct species. We provide a proposal of taxonomic revision and a list of synonymies for two of them and a new description under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature rules for the third one. Conclusions If nuclear data will confirm our findings, at least three specific entities should be acknowledged across our sampling area. Namely, the three species are (i) Barbus plebejus, in the Padano-Venetian district; (ii) Barbus tyberinus, in the Tuscany-Latium district; (iii) Barbus oscensis Rossi & Plazzi sp. nov., in the Tyrrhenian and southernmost-Adriatic parts of Apulia-Campania district. Finally, we briefly discuss the implications of such a taxonomic scenario on conservation policies.

Download Full-text

One name to rule them all: Belinurus trilobitoides (Buckland, ) is senior synonym to fourteen named species

Journal of Paleontology ◽

10.1017/jpa.2021.84 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

James C. Lamsdell

Keyword(s):

Type Species ◽

New Genus ◽

Distinct Species ◽

Junior Synonym ◽

International Commission ◽

Zoological Nomenclature ◽

International Code ◽

Senior Synonym ◽

Horseshoe Crabs ◽

The Subject

One of the oldest fossil horseshoe crabs figured in the literature is Entomolithus lunatus Martin, 1809, a Carboniferous species included in his Petrificata Derbiensia. While the species has generally been included within the genus Belinurus Bronn, 1839, it was recently used as the type species of the new genus Parabelinurus Lamsdell, 2020. However, recent investigation as to the appropriate authority for Belinurus (see Lamsdell and Clapham, 2021) revealed that all the names in Petrificata Derbiensia were suppressed in Opinion 231 of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1954) for being consistently nonbinomial under Article 11.4 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999). Despite the validation of several species names for anthozoans, brachiopods, and cephalopods described in Petrificata Derbiensia in subsequent rulings (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1956a, b), Belinurus lunatus has not been the subject of any subsequent Commission ruling or opinion, and so its use in Petrificata Derbiensia remains suppressed. The Belinurus lunatus species name was used in several subsequent publications during the 1800s, none of which made the name available under ICZN article 11.5; Parkinson (1811) is also suppressed for being nonbinomial, while Woodward (1830), Buckland (1837), Bronn (1839), and Baily (1859) refer to the species only as a synonym of Belinurus trilobitoides (Buckland, 1837) through citation to the suppressed Pretificata Derbiensia. The first author to make Belinurus lunatus an available name was Baldwin (1905), who used the name in reference to a new figured specimen from Sparth Bottoms, Rochdale, UK, but again as an explicit junior synonym of Belinurus trilobitoides (Buckland, 1837). Therefore, it was not until Eller (1938) treated B. lunatus as a distinct species from B. trilobitoides that B. lunatus became an available name as per ICZN Article 11.6.1 under the authorship of Baldwin (1905) following ICZN Article 50.7.

Download Full-text

DNA polymorphism of dogs (Canis familiaris L.). I. Origin, distribution of dogs in the light of molecular biological data about their mitochondrial and nuclear genomes

Biomics ◽

10.31301/2221-6197.bmcs.2021-21 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 298-308

Author(s):

D.A. Chemeris ◽

Yu.R. Giniyatov ◽

R.R. Garafutdinov ◽

A.V. Chemeris

Keyword(s):

Western Europe ◽

Dna Polymorphism ◽

Nuclear Dna ◽

Canis Familiaris ◽

Biological Data ◽

Migration Routes ◽

Points Of View ◽

Nuclear Genomes ◽

Biological Methods ◽

Mtdna Polymorphism

Information is given on the size and organization of the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of dogs, including information on polymorphisms of some loci used to clarify the phylogenetic relationships of wolves and the first dogs, including hypotheses about the places of domestication of ancient now extinct wolves and the dates of these events. It is noted that the introduction of molecular biological methods in archaeology has allowed to obtain the principally new data on ancient wolves and dogs. Based on mtDNA polymorphism and nuclear DNA polymorphism, migration routes of already domesticated dogs together with humans have been tracked. The previously existing points of view about the origin of the first dogs in Western Europe, as well as in East Asia, have been supplemented in recent years by assumptions about the appearance of the first proto-dogs in Siberia.

Download Full-text

Biology, Management, and Protection of North American Sturgeon

Biology, Management, and Protection of North American Sturgeon ◽

10.47886/9781888569360.ch20 ◽

2002 ◽

Keyword(s):

Distinct Species ◽

Current Status ◽

Valid Species ◽

Morphological Evidence ◽

Morphometric Character ◽

Meristic Characters ◽

Shovelnose Sturgeon ◽

Major Threat ◽

Pallid Sturgeon ◽

Two Indices

Abstract.—It is difficult to distinguish pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus from the morphologically similar, congeneric and sympatric shovelnose sturgeon S. platorynchus. This has led some to question whether the pallid sturgeon is indeed a valid species. Another controversy is whether the two species are hybridizing. Indices, based on various morphometric and meristic characters, have been proposed to discriminate among Scaphirhynchus taxa, but they are cumbersome to calculate in the field. We report two mathematical indices developed via multiple regression analysis that use five morphometric ratios and two meristics (Character Index), or the five morphometric ratios alone (Morphometric Character Index) as taxon predictors. Data from a study of pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon conducted by Carlson and Pflieger (1981) were used to develop the regression models. The consistency of identifications made by the two indices was examined using Discriminant Functions Analysis (DFA) on a collection of 257 Scaphirhynchus specimens from throughout the pallid sturgeon range. Specimens identified via the CI and mCI as pallid sturgeon grouped distinctly from the shovelnose sturgeon cluster; specimens identified as hybrids by the two indices formed an intermediate cluster. The majority (90% and 89.7%, respectively) of the specimens identified as pallid sturgeon by the Character Index (CI) and the Morphometric Character Index (mCI) were classified as pallid sturgeon by DFA. This morphological evidence supports the current status of pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon as distinct species. Interspecific hybridization, considered by some to be a major threat to the pallid sturgeon, appears to be common. The Pallid Sturgeon Recovery Team has recommended the CI for field identifications throughout the pallid sturgeon’s range.

Download Full-text