European dhole

European dhole
Skeletal remains dating back to upper Würm period from Cova del Parpalló, Gandía, Valencia, Spain.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Carnivora
Family:Canidae
Genus:Cuon
Species: C. alpinus
Subspecies: C. a. †europaeus
Trinomial name
Cuon alpinus †europaeus

The European dhole (Cuon alpinus europaeus) was a paleosubspecies of dhole which ranged throughout much of Western and Central Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Like the modern Asiatic populations, it was a more progressive form than other prehistoric members of the genus Cuon, having transformed its lower molar tooth into a single cusped slicer. It was virtually indistinguishable from its modern counterpart, save for its greater size, which closely approached that of the grey wolf.[1]

It became extinct in much of Europe during the late Würm period,[1] though it may have survived in the Iberian Peninsula up until the early Holocene.[2] One factor contributing to its extinction may have been interspecific competition with grey wolves and other wolf-like canids.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Kurtén, Björn (1968), Pleistocene mammals of Europe, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, pp. 111-114
  2. ↑ Ripoll, P. et al. (2010), Presence of the genus Cuon in upper Pleistocene and initial Holocene sites of the Iberian Peninsula: new remains identified in archaeological contexts of the Mediterranean region, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37: 437-450
  3. ↑ Petrucci, M. et al. (2012). The Middle-Late Pleistocene Cuon Hodgson, 1838 (Carnivora, Canidae) from Italy. Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana, 51 (2), 2012, 137-148
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