Some research has suggested all dogs and doglike animals have descended from a single pair of wolves.
A new study by Australian scientists has given the Australian dingo its own unique species name: Canis dingo. Previously, the dingo was considered just a variety of wild dog. However, Mike Letric from the U. of New South Wales said, "What we've done is describe the dingo more scientifically.” The species name is actually not a new name. It was first used in 1793 by Friedrich Meyer, a German naturalist, but apparently was not commonly used in modern times.
The researchers first had to isolate those dingoes which weren’t likely to have cross-bred with domestic dogs. They did this by studying 69 skull and skin specimens in museums and archaeological sites that pre-dated 1900 in order to come up with a benchmark description. "What we did was say this is what dingoes look like before 1900 and that's what a dingo looks like because there were not very many dogs around," Letnic said.
The team of scientists has described the dingo as having a slim build, a relatively broad head, a long snout, pointy ears, and a bushy tail. Dingoes weigh from 33 to 44 pounds (15 to 20 kg). While it is believed there might still be pure dingoes in parts of Australia, the scientists do not have the DNA evidence to be sure.
After being introduced into Australia thousands of years ago, the dingoes could breed in isolation until dogs began arriving in 1788 along with European settlers. Today, distinguishing pure dingoes from mixed breeds (“dingo dogs”) is important because some Australians want to conserve dingoes but get rid of the dingo dogs, which are seen as pests. Dingoes do play an important role in nature in that they help regulate the populations of kangaroos, wallabies and invasive red foxes.
When it comes to classifying animals, it is not an easy job for scientists. Some taxonomists are referred to as “lumpers” because they focus on similarities among animals and tend to lump similar animals together into fewer species while “splitters” focus on differences and like to split similar animals into more species. When it comes to the number of dog species, there is a big difference of opinion. In answer to the question “How many dog species are there?”, various answers such as the following appear on the Ask website:
“there are about 169 species.”
“there is [sic] over 5 million different species of dog around the world.”
“The domestic dog is all one species”
“There are over 400 species of pure bred dogs”
There is such a difference of opinion about dog species because taxonomists and others can’t always agree on what a “species” is. However, a traditional and common dictionary definition of “species” is: “the major subdivision of a genus or subgenus, regarded as the basic category of biological classification, composed of related individuals that resemble one another, are able to breed among themselves, but are not able to breed with members of another species.” Using this definition for a species, it would then seem as if the dingo should not be regarded as a unique species because it can mate with domestic dogs.
Actually, a genetic analysis a few years ago suggested all dogs and doglike animals descended from a single animal, a Middle Eastern wolf. If correct, this analysis would support the contention of creationist scientists, as we indicated in Monday’s post, that there were far fewer animals on Noah’s ark than critics of Genesis contend. Instead of having hundreds of varieties of dogs and doglike animals on the ark, there may have just been one pair, perhaps Middle Eastern wolves. Something similar could be said for cats, horses, elephants, etc. The Bible says Noah should take two of every “kind” of land animal on board, not two of every “species.”
If we consider humans, there has never been more than one kind and/or species, as the Bible confirms (1 Corinthians 15:39). Paleontologists who think otherwise have only weak inferences and hypotheses to go on. To this one human race Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Because all of us fall far short of perfection, we must depend upon Jesus for forgiveness. “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you” (Acts 13:38). So, representatives of the one human species, believe this and you will be saved (Acts 16:31).
Reference: Pauline Askin, “Australia's dingo is a unique species, study shows,” Reuters / Yahoo News.
(Photo of a dingo from Wikipedia, by Jarrod Amoore)
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
How can poster board help you clean up after your cat?
One cat owner finds putting full sheets of poster board under the litter boxes makes life easier. When a cat kicks litter out of the box onto the poster board, simply pick up the board and dump the spills back into the litter box. Poster board can often be purchased for less than $1 a sheet.
Source: USA Weekend (March 14-16, 2014)
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