Natural History

WilliamWilsonJr

The fight between a vulture and jackal towards the end involves a golden jackal and lappet-faced vulture.

Also, these two jackal species cannot interbreed. The golden jackal is more closely related to wolves coyotes and coyotes. The golden jackal can interbreed with wolves, dogs, and coyotes.  The golden jackal is found through northern and eastern Africa, as well as much of Asia. The species is found in Europe as far north and west as Hungary, where it is called the “reed wolf.”

The black-backed jackal is actually quite a bit older than the golden. We actually know that the black-backed jackal is the oldest living species in the genus Canis.

The two populations of black-backed jackal are also quite genetically distinct. The East African population has been isolated from the southern Africa population for quite some time.

Both of these species do hunt. The black-backs that live near fur seal colonies and Namibia regularly take fur seal pups. Golden jackals are known to work in packs to hunt gazelle fawns. So to denounce the jackal as a mere scavenger is not entirely correct.

The only reason why we think of jackals as being related is that all three species share roughly the same niche. They are mid-level predators and scavengers. The golden, black-backed, and side-striped jackals are all roughly the same size and do look oddly similar. In fact, it would be easy to mistake the coyote for being a species of jackal. In fact, at one time coyotes had their own genus Thous. The coyote was considered part of this genus.

Our understanding of how these animals evolved shows us that the golden jackal and coyote are related, and both are closely related to the wolves. We now know that one former jackal species, the so-called Simien jackal, is actually much more closely related to the wolves than to any species of jackal. In fact, its modern name is the Ethiopian wolf.

The black-backed and side-striped jackals live only in Africa. They are a different evolutionary offshoot of the genus Canis. One could make the case that these two species might need their own genus. The painted dog or painted wolf of Africa (Cape hunting dog or African wild dog) and the dhole or red dog of Asia are relatives of the Canis species. However, because they are not as closely related to the main Canis line, they are in their own distinct genuses.  The painted wolf or painted dog is  Lycaon pictus (literally “painted wolf”) and the dhole or red dog is Cuon alpinus (“mountain dog).

Maybe the black-backed and side-striped jackals need to be returned to the genus Thous. However, doing so would probably disrupt our ability to classify the basal Canis species. Of course, that’s what both of these African jackals are, and such a move would probably do nothing more than invite confusion.