African wolf Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene – Recent 0.6-0 Ma
African wolf in Haizer, Algeria
African wolves howling
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Genus:	Canis
Species:	C. lupaster
Binomial name
Canis lupaster Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1832[1]
Subspecies
C. l. algirensis C. l. anthus C. l. bea C. l. lupaster C. l. riparius C. l. soudanicus
Synonyms
Canis anthus F. Cuvier, 1820[2]

The African wolf (see below for other names; Canis lupaster) is a canine native to North Africa, West Africa, the Sahel, northern East Africa, and the Horn of Africa. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.^[1] In the Middle Atlas in Morocco, it was sighted in elevations as high as 1,800 m (5,900 ft).^[3] It is primarily a predator of invertebrates and mammals as large as gazelle fawns, though larger animals are sometimes taken. Its diet also includes animal carcasses, human refuse, and fruit. They are monogamous and territorial; offspring remain with the parents to assist in raising their parents' younger pups.^[4]

The African wolf was previously classified as an African variant of the golden jackal (Canis aureus), with at that time at least one subspecies (C. a. lupaster) having been classified as a wolf. In 2015, a series of analyses on the species' mitochondrial DNA and nuclear genome demonstrated that it was, in fact, distinct from the golden jackal, and more closely related to the gray wolf and the coyote (Canis latrans).^[5][6] It is nonetheless still close enough to the golden jackal to produce hybrid offspring, as indicated through genetic tests on jackals in Israel,^[5] and a 19th-century captive crossbreeding experiment.^[7] Further studies demonstrated that it is the descendant of a genetically admixed canid of 72% gray wolf (Canis lupus) and 28% Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) ancestry.^[8]

It plays a prominent role in some African cultures; it was considered sacred in ancient Egypt, particularly in Lycopolis, where it was venerated as a god. In North African folklore, it is viewed as an untrustworthy animal whose body parts can be used for medicinal or ritualistic purposes,^[9][10][11] while it is held in high esteem in Senegal's Serer religion as being the first creature to be created by the god Roog.^[12]

Names

The taxon is known under the following names: African wolf,^[13][14] African golden wolf,^[15][16] golden wolf,^[17] African golden jackal,^[5] North African jackal,^[18][19][20] African jackal,^[21] gray jackal,^[20] wolf jackal,^[22][23] jackal wolf,^[24] Egyptian wolf,^[25] Egyptian jackal.^[25]

Local and indigenous names:

Description

The African wolf is intermediate in size between the African jackals (L. mesomelas and L. adusta) and the small subspecies of gray wolves,^[13] with both sexes weighing 7–15 kg (15–33 lb), and standing 40 cm in height.^[4] There is however a high degree of size variation geographically, with Western and Northern African specimens being larger than their East African cousins.^[13] It has a relatively long snout and ears, while the tail is comparatively short, measuring 20 cm in length. Fur color varies individually, seasonally and geographically, though the typical coloration is yellowish to silvery grey, with slightly reddish limbs and black speckling on the tail and shoulders. The throat, abdomen and facial markings are usually white, and the eyes are amber-colored. Females bear two to four pairs of teats.^[4] Although superficially similar to the golden jackal (particularly in East Africa), the African wolf has a more pointed muzzle and sharper, more robust teeth.^[5] The ears are longer in the African wolf, and the skull has a more elevated forehead.^[33]

Various C. lupaster phenotypes, ranging from gracile jackal-like morphs to more robust wolf-like ones.

Taxonomy

Early writings

Aristotle wrote of wolves living in Egypt, mentioning that they were smaller than the Greek kind. Georg Ebers wrote of the wolf being among the sacred animals of Egypt, describing it as a "smaller variety" of wolf to those of Europe, and noting how the name Lykopolis, the Ancient Egyptian city dedicated to Anubis, means "city of the wolf".^[36][37]

The African wolf was first recognised as being a separate species from the golden jackal by Frédéric Cuvier in 1820, who described it as being a more elegant animal, with a more melodic voice and a less strong odour. The binomial name he chose for it was derived from the Arcadian Anthus family described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, whose members would draw lots to become werewolves.^[2] Eduard Rüppell proposed that the animal was the ancestor of Egyptian sighthounds, and named it Wolfs-hund (wolf dog),^[38] while C.H. Smith named it "thoa" or "thous dog".^[39]

An attempt was also made in 1821 to hybridise the two species in captivity, resulting in the birth of five pups, three of which died before weaning. The two survivors were noted to never play with each other, and had completely contrasting temperaments: One pup inherited the golden jackal's shyness, while the other was affectionate toward its human captors.^[7] English biologist G.J. Mivart emphasized the differences between the African wolf and the golden jackal in his writings:

... it is a nice question whether the Common Jackal of North Africa should or should not be regarded as of the same species ... Certainly the differences of coloration which exist between these forms are not nearly so great as those which are to be found to occur between the different local varieties of C. lupus. We are nevertheless inclined ... to keep the North-African and Indian Jackals distinct ... The reason why we prefer to keep them provisionally distinct is that though the difference between the two forms (African and Indian) is slight as regards coloration, yet it appears to be a very constant one. Out of seventeen skins of the Indian form, we have only found one which is wanting in the main characteristic as to difference of hue. The ears also are relatively shorter than in the North-African form. But there is another character to which we attach greater weight. However much the different races of Wolves differ in size, we have not succeeded in finding any constant distinctive characters in the form of the skull or the proportions of the lobes of any of the teeth. So far as we have been able to observe, such differences do exist between the Indian and North-African Jackals.

— Mivart (1890)^[40]

The canids present in Egypt in particular were noted to be so much more gray wolf-like than populations elsewhere in Africa that W.F. Hemprich and C.G. Ehrenberg gave them the binomial name Canis lupaster in 1832. Likewise, T.H. Huxley, upon noting the similarities between the skulls of lupaster and Indian wolves, classed the animal as a subspecies of the gray wolf. However, the animal was subsequently synonymised with the golden jackal by Ernst Schwarz in 1926.

In 1965, the Finnish paleontologist Björn Kurtén wrote:

The taxonomy of the Jackals in the Near East is still a matter of dispute. On the basis of skeletal material, however, it can be stated that the Wolf Jackal is specifically distinct from the much smaller Golden Jackal.^[41]

In 1981, zoologist Walter Ferguson argued in favor of lupaster being a subspecies of the gray wolf based on cranial measurements, stating that the classing of the animal as a jackal was based solely on the animal's small size, and predated the discovery of C. l. arabs, which is intermediate in size between C. l. lupus and lupaster.^[37]

21st-century discoveries