African wolf

The taxon is known under the following names: African wolf, African golden wolf, golden wolf, African golden jackal, gray jackal, wolf jackal, jackal wolf, Egyptian wolf, Egyptian jackal. 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, 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". 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. Eduard Rüppell proposed that the animal was the ancestor of Egyptian sighthounds, and named it Wolfs-hund (wolf dog), while C.H. Smith named it "thoa" or "thous dog". 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. English biologist G.J. Mivart emphasized the differences between the African wolf and the golden jackal in his writings: (top) and C. lupaster'' (bottom). 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: 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 Arabian wolf|, which is intermediate in size between Eurasian wolf| and lupaster. The animal's wolf-like qualities were confirmed in 2011, when several golden "jackal" populations in Egypt and the Horn of Africa classed as Canis aureus lupaster were found to have mtDNA sequences more closely resembling those found in gray wolves than those of golden jackals. In 2015, a more thorough comparative study of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes on a larger sample of wolf-like African canids from northern, eastern and western Africa showed that they were in fact all distinct from the golden jackal, with a genetic divergence of around 6.7%, Furthermore, the study showed that these African wolf-like canids (renamed Canis lupaster, or African wolves) were more closely related to gray wolves and coyotes than to golden jackals, Studies on RAD sequences found instances of African wolves hybridizing with both feral dogs and Ethiopian wolves. In 2017, it was proposed by scientists at the Oslo and Helsinki Universities that the binomial name C. anthus was a nomen dubium, as Cuvier's 1820 description of the holotype, a female collected from Senegal, seems to be describing the side-striped jackal rather than the actual African wolf, and does not match the appearance of a male specimen described by Cuvier in his later writings. This ambiguity, coupled with the disappearance of the holotype's remains, led to the scientists proposing giving priority to Hemprich and Ehrenberg's name C. lupaster, due to the type specimen having a more detailed and consistent description, and its remains being still examinable at the Museum für Naturkunde. The species' display of high individual variation, coupled with the scarcity of samples and the lack of physical barriers on the continent preventing gene flow, brings into question the validity of some of the West African forms. ==Behavior==

Social and reproductive behaviors The African wolf's social organisation is extremely flexible, varying according to the availability and distribution of food. The basic social unit is a breeding pair, followed by its current offspring, or offspring from previous litters staying as "helpers". Hunting behavior in the Ngorongoro National Park, Tanzania The African wolf rarely catches hares, due to their speed. Gazelle mothers (often working in groups of two or three) are formidable when defending their young against single wolves, which are much more successful in hunting gazelle fawns when working in pairs. A pair of wolves will methodically search for concealed gazelle fawns within herds, tall grass, bushes and other likely hiding places. Although it is known to kill animals up to three times its own weight, the African wolf targets mammalian prey much less frequently than the black-backed jackal overall. On capturing large prey, the African wolf makes no attempt to kill it; instead it rips open the belly and eats the entrails. Small prey is typically killed by shaking, though snakes may be eaten alive from the tail end. The African wolf often carries away more food than it can consume, and caches the surplus, which is generally recovered within 24 hours. When foraging for insects, the African wolf turns over dung piles to find dung beetles. During the dry seasons, it excavates dung balls to reach the larvae inside. Grasshoppers and flying termites are caught either in mid-air or by pouncing on them while they are on the ground. It is fiercely intolerant of other scavengers, having been known to dominate vultures on kills – one can hold dozens of vultures at bay by threatening, snapping and lunging at them. ==Ecology==

Distribution and habitat C. lupaster has a wide range across the upper half of Africa, occurring in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Western Sahara, Nigeria, Chad, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Kenya, Egypt, and Tanzania. Fossil finds dating back to the Pleistocene indicate that the species' range was not always restricted to Africa, with remains having been found in the Levant and Saudi Arabia. The African wolf inhabits a number of different habitats; in Algeria it lives in Mediterranean, coastal and hilly areas (including hedged farmlands, scrublands, pinewoods and oak forests), while populations in Senegal inhabit tropical, semi-arid climate zones including Sahelian savannahs. Wolf populations in Mali have been documented in arid Sahelian massifs. This wolf has been reported in the very dry Danakil Depression desert on the coast of Eritrea, in eastern Africa. In East Africa, it consumes invertebrates and fruit, though 60% of its diet consists of rodents, lizards, snakes, birds, hares and Thomson's gazelles. During the wildebeest calving season, African wolves will feed almost exclusively on their afterbirth. Nevertheless, the African wolf has been known to kill the pups of black-backed jackals, Nevertheless, there is at least one record of an African wolf pack adopting a male Ethiopian wolf. African wolves will feed alongside spotted hyenas, though they will be chased if they approach too closely. Spotted hyenas will sometimes follow wolves during the gazelle fawning season, as wolves are effective at tracking and catching young animals. Hyenas do not take to eating wolf flesh readily; four hyenas were reported to take half an hour in eating one. Overall, the two animals typically ignore each other when no food or young is at stake. Wolves will confront a hyena approaching too closely to their dens by taking turns in biting the hyena's hocks until it retreats. African wolves in the Serengeti are known to carry the canine parvovirus, canine herpesvirus, canine coronavirus and canine adenovirus. ==In culture==

, British Museum The wolf was the template of numerous Ancient Egyptian deities, including Anubis, Wepwawet and Duamutef. The wolf was sacred in Lycopolis, whose inhabitants would mummify wolves and store them in chambers, as opposed to other areas of Egypt, where wolves were buried at their place of death. According to Diodorus Siculus in Bibliotheca historica, there were two reasons as to why the wolf was held in such high regard, the first being the animal's affinity to the dog, and the second being a legend that told of how Lycopolis received its name after a pack of wolves repelled an Ethiopian invasion. Plutarch noted in his On the Worship of Isis and Osiris that Lycopolis was the only nome in Egypt where people consumed sheep, as the practice was associated with the wolf, which was revered as a god. The importance of the wolf in Lycopolite culture continued through to the Roman period, where images of the animal were minted on the reverse sides of coins. Herodotus mockingly wrote of a festival commemorating Rhampsinit's descent to the underworld where a priest would be led by two wolves to the temple of Ceres. Arab Egyptian folklore holds that the wolf can cause chickens to faint from fear by simply passing underneath their roosts, and associates its body parts with various forms of folk magic: placing a wolf's tongue in a house is believed to cause the inhabitants to argue, and its meat is thought to be useful in treating insanity and epilepsy. Its heart is believed to protect the bearer from wild animal attacks, while its eye can protect against the evil eye. Edvard Westermarck wrote of several remedies derived from the wolf in Morocco, including the use of its fat as a lotion, the consumption of its meat to treat respiratory ailments, and the burning of its intestines in fumigation rituals meant to increase the fertility of married couples. The wolf's gall bladder was said to have various uses, including curing sexual impotence and serving as a charm for women wishing to divorce their husbands. Westermarck noted, however, that the wolf was also associated with more nefarious qualities: it was said that a child who eats wolf flesh before reaching puberty will be forever cursed with misfortune and that scribes and saintly persons refrain from consuming it even in areas where it is socially acceptable, as doing so would render their charms useless. The African wolf is not common in Neolithic rock art, though it does occasionally appear; a definite portrayal is shown on the Kef Messiouer cave in Algeria's Tébessa Province, where it is shown feeding on a wild boar carcass alongside a lion pride. It plays a role in Berber mythology, particularly that of the Ait Seghrouchen of Morocco, where it plays a similar role in folktales as the red fox does in Medieval European fables, though it is often the victim of the more cunning hedgehog. The African wolf plays a prominent role in the Serer religion's creation myth, where it is viewed as the first living creature created by Roog, the Supreme God and Creator. In one aspect, it can be viewed as an Earth-diver sent to Earth by Roog, in another, as a fallen prophet for disobeying the laws of the divine. The wolf was the first intelligent creature on Earth, and it is believed that it will remain on Earth after human beings have returned to the divine. The Serers believe that, not only does it know in advance who will die, but it traces the tracks in advance of those who will go to funerals. The movements of the wolf are carefully observed, because the animal is viewed as a seer who came from the transcendence and maintains links with it. Although believed to be rejected in the bush by other animals and deprived of its original intelligence, it is still respected because it dared to resist the supreme being who still keeps it alive. ==See also==