page_title: Caninae
section_title: Phylogenetic relationships
hierarchical_section_title: Caninae / Phylogenetic relationships
caption_attribution_description: Sketch of corsac skull. Sketch of raccoon dog skull. Sketch of dhole skull. Sketch of golden jackal skull.
context_page_description: The Caninae, known as canines, are one of three subfamilies found within the canid family. The other two canid subfamilies are the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. The Caninae includes all living canids and their most recent fossil relatives. Their fossils were first found in North America and dated to the Oligocene era, then spreading to Asia at the end of the Miocene era, some 7 million to 8 million years ago.
context_section_description: The results of allozyme and chromosome analyses have previously suggested several phylogenetic divisions:
  Canina
  The wolf-like canines (genus Canis, Cuon, and Lycaon) include the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), gray wolf (Canis lupus), red wolf (Canis rufus), eastern wolf (Canis lycaon), coyote (Canis latrans), Eurasian golden jackal (Canis aureus), African golden wolf (Canis anthus), Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), side-striped jackal (Canis adustus), dhole (Cuon alpinus), and African wild dog (Lycaon pictus).
  Cerdocyonina
  The South American canines include the bush dog (Speothos venaticus), hoary fox (Lycalopex uetulus), crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), and maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus).
  Vulpini
  The fox-like canines include the kit fox (Vulpes velox), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Cape fox (Vulpes chama), Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), fennec fox (Vulpes zerda), the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), and  the bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis).
  Urocyon
  A monotypic taxon for the basal California island fox (Urocyon littoralis) and the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus).
  DNA analysis shows that the first three form monophyletic clades. The wolf-like canines and the South American canines together form the tribe Canini. Molecular data imply a North American origin of living Canidae some 10 Mya and an African origin of wolf-like canines (Canis, Cuon, and Lycaon), with the jackals being the most basal of this group.
  The South American clade is rooted by the maned wolf and bush dog, and the fox-like canines by the fennec fox and Blanford's fox. The gray fox and island fox are basal to the other clades; however, this topological difference is not strongly supported.
  The cladogram below is based on the phylogeny of Lindblad-Toh (2005) modified to incorporate recent findings on Canis, Vulpes, Lycalopex species, and Dusicyon.
caption: Skulls of various canine genera; Vulpes (corsac fox), Nyctereutes (raccoon dog), Cuon (dhole), and Canis (Eurasian golden jackal)
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