Dusicyon is an extinct genus of South American canids.
| Dusicyon[1] Temporal range: Late Pliocene to recent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Falkland Islands wolf and D. avus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subfamily: | Caninae |
| Tribe: | Canini |
| Genus: | †Dusicyon C. E. H. Smith, 1839[2] |
| Type species | |
| Canis australis Kerr, 1792 | |
| Species | |
Taxonomy
The type species is Dusicyon australis, the Falkland Islands wolf. In 1914, Oldfield Thomas established this genus, in which he included the culpeo and other South American foxes. These other canids were removed to Lycalopex by Langguth in 1975.[3] There is still much debate about the classification of Dusicyon cultridens. It has been suggested that this species be placed in the genera Canis or Lycalopex. This debate makes D. cultridens poorly researched.[citation needed]
Extinctions
Dusicyon avus, widely distributed in the late Pleistocene from Uruguay through Buenos Aires Province to southernmost Chile, is the closest known relative of the Falkland Islands wolf; the two lineages split only about 16,000 years ago.[4] It died out in the late Holocene, earlier estimates suggested about 2,980 years ago on the island of Tierra del Fuego and almost 1,700 years ago in the continent.[5] More recent research confirms much later extinction dates, with the latest confirmed records in the Pampean Region being 700 BP (1232–1397 AD) and southernmost Patagonia at 400 years BP (1454–1626 AD).[6]
References
External links
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