An African jackal looks like an American jackal: Canis anthus vs Canis latrans, part 1

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It is surprising how similar the North African jackal (Canis anthus, https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/golden-jackal-serengeti-national-park-1884548941) is to the coyote (Canis latrans, https://parody.fandom.com/wiki/Mearns%27_Coyote?file=Coyote%252C_Mearns%2527.jpg).

As the following photos show, they can be virtually indistinguishable to the untrained eye.
 
If this similarity occurred between the Eurasian jackal (Canis aureus) and the North African jackal, nobody would think much of it, and the two species would probably still be lumped together.

However, C. anthus and C. latrans could hardly be more disjunct geographically. The fact that the similarity is an intercontinental one makes this case remarkable and deeply puzzling.
 
Confusing the matter further are

• persistent puzzles in the taxonomy of genus Canis as a whole,
• possible hybridisation with the wolf (Canis lupus), and
• common names that are more misleading than useful.

It remains unclear whether the North African jackal should be called Canis anthus or Canis lupaster.

Hybridisation between coyote and wolf has produced the ‘coywolf’ in the northeastern USA, and possibly also central America. Meanwhile, the distinction between the North African jackal and certain sympatric wolf-like entities remains unclear.
 
In the case of common names, what is particularly confusing is that the coyote is jackal-like but is never called a jackal. Meanwhile, there is a current fad to call the North African jackal a wolf.

The aim of this Post is to eliminate as many of these confusions as possible in asking the question:
Just how similar in appearance is C. anthus to C. latrans?
 
Although there are many photos of C. latrans on the Web, most of them show thick pelage, indicating adaptation to cold.

When one excludes all photos of the coyote in winter coat, there is not much left to go on.

However, I have scoured Google Images for photos of C. latrans along three lines, to find the specimens most comparable with C. anthus. This effort has produced photos of the coyote

• on green prairie, in summer coat,
• in the semi-deserts of the southwestern USA, and
• in central America.

My conclusions are as follows:

• these two species are remarkably similar, and
• the hindquarters seem to differ somewhat: C. anthus has a slightly darker and slightly longer tail, and a diagonal dark bar on the haunch.

CANIS ANTHUS

The following show Canis anthus in the area from Tanzania to Ethiopia.
 
https://www.alamy.com/asiatic-jackal-image209692971.html?imageid=40AD7222-D927-40C8-B6F1-8DAF9DD7BAD4&p=257778&pn=3&searchId=dc9b1acfd72b8e624ffe174638fa2e84&searchtype=0

Awash National Park, Ethiopia:
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1065/1279725816_a3c70d37e4_z.jpg?zz=1

Lake Abiata, southern Ethiopia:
http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcseriesblog/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2017/04/Lake_abiata-wolf-620x342.jpg
 
Serengeti and Ngorongoro:

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-black-backed-jackal-seen-on-safari-on-the-savanna-in-serengeti-national-15242859.html?imageid=9A63188F-0465-4B7D-948B-6231E761040A&p=2110&pn=5&searchId=a582718982b4644f19afcacb77ea626f&searchtype=0

https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_1200/8eb82226232369.5604deba6b5da.jpg

http://photos.travellerspoint.com/435774/large_D8956D31FF99BEAC2E3AF704DDCB7BC8.jpg

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-serengeti-national-park-tanzania-east-africa-13563598.html?imageid=734378FB-DBE5-475E-B3A6-2D44F3C7F220&p=40779&pn=5&searchId=a582718982b4644f19afcacb77ea626f&searchtype=0

https://julianguerrero.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/golden-jackal.jpg

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-serengeti-national-park-tanzania-123340155.html?imageid=602366FC-36EE-4A8B-BF5C-D0F6F2747DA9&p=22059&pn=1&searchId=89fc8846c0c357dff41ad301570b97eb&searchtype=0 and
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-serengeti-national-park-tanzania-123340161.html?imageid=722718D7-EF62-483C-A942-221F45EDA815&p=22059&pn=1&searchId=89fc8846c0c357dff41ad301570b97eb&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/golden-jackal-canus-aureus-standing-on-the-serengeti-in-tanzania-east-image9965969.html?imageid=7D45CDCD-6CCD-40AC-9D00-C17A962DBC12&p=8663&pn=5&searchId=a582718982b4644f19afcacb77ea626f&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-standing-72471148.html?imageid=FB32331F-C608-4C6A-9FFA-BE800685713C&p=147756&pn=1&searchId=89fc8846c0c357dff41ad301570b97eb&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-golden-jackal-walking-72471149.html?imageid=CE3B1040-80D0-4313-B460-685F1BBB81DA&p=147756&pn=1&searchId=89fc8846c0c357dff41ad301570b97eb&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/black-blacked-jackal-walking-tanzania-image245421549.html?imageid=F7707494-CB68-4423-A5AD-F28A6AC78AC1&p=42009&pn=2&searchId=7112c82da8496c5925cae248a6caf33b&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-serengeti-jackal-canis-aureus-bea-in-serengeti-tanzania-140360809.html?imageid=BB6299C0-588F-49D2-A774-950032851417&p=355562&pn=1&searchId=89fc8846c0c357dff41ad301570b97eb&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/africa-tanzania-golden-jackal-canis-aureus-in-serengeti-np-image441340984.html?imageid=6D034EBE-4721-4ACA-95F8-52FFB9EC0D64&p=567976&pn=2&searchId=7112c82da8496c5925cae248a6caf33b&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/golden-jackal-canis-aureus-trotting-in-savannah-serengeti-national-park-tanzania-image462229806.html?imageid=E4138DF2-3481-4359-A599-E15BCE0D1B43&p=35179&pn=2&searchId=7112c82da8496c5925cae248a6caf33b&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/golden-jackal-serengeti-national-park-tanzania-africa-image441446019.html?imageid=677C2628-0F31-4D19-8B3D-B43855B709E9&p=16459&pn=2&searchId=7112c82da8496c5925cae248a6caf33b&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/golden-jackal-canis-aurus-with-wet-fur-serengeti-national-park-tanzania-image262930055.html?imageid=AF5AC8D3-BDC1-4538-8EA2-FF001C8D5B77&p=215411&pn=2&searchId=7112c82da8496c5925cae248a6caf33b&searchtype=0

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ebgnsEGoNMo/U_8oUYdoFnI/AAAAAAAAbgc/Jd_bgZlIUGk/s1600/3c1%2Bjackal%2B-%2Bngo%2B-%2Bmce.jpg
 
http://spiegels.smugmug.com/Travel/Africa/i-bfjbC9R/0/M/africa-3674-M.jpg

https://www.alamy.com/golden-jackal-canis-aureus-in-serengeti-national-park-in-tanzania-image344318610.html?imageid=F3A2C686-3D56-4838-9626-33583E6CC1D1&p=1249180&pn=2&searchId=7112c82da8496c5925cae248a6caf33b&searchtype=0

CANIS LATRANS

The following exclude all specimens in winter coat.
 
http://19mvmv3yn2qc2bdb912o1t2n.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/science/files/2016/03/7813912_orig.jpg

https://farm1.static.flickr.com/651/31718411214_60a9ebe284_b.jpg

http://www.nhptv.org/wild/images/coyote9.jpg
 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Coyote_in_Alaska.jpg
 
http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/photos/mammals/coyote_3261np.jpg
 
http://c8.alamy.com/comp/B2C40A/coyote-or-prairie-wolf-canis-latrans-adult-sonoran-desert-arizona-B2C40A.jpg 

https://tjsgardendotcom1.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/great-coyote-photo.jpg 
 
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000upZiCkcQUus/s/600/600/MC362.jpg
 
https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/LAggLgM8yOVCxA/desert-region-catherine

http://www.davidwallphoto.com/detail/54935-Coyote-Canis-latrans,-Badwater-Basin,-Death-Valley-National-Park,-Mojave-Desert,-California,-USA.html

https://ovlc.org/ojai-wildlife/coyote/

https://tjsgardendotcom1.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/coyote-in-arizona-desert.jpg
 
http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/desert-coyote-desert-harmony.jpg
 
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/07/b9/e7/07b9e78a44408ec95fcec9ca5153d490.jpg
 
https://www.freeimages.com/es/premium/coyote-in-the-southern-california-desert-1827610

https://www.dreamstime.com/usa-california-national-park-coyote-death-valley-homeland-timbisha-shoshone-tribe-mojave-desert-located-image205280851

https://www.flickr.com/photos/keith_burton/5490906201

https://rlv.zcache.com/california_desert_coyote_postcard-r8e7a42de525e46f09654135d469311be_vgbaq_8byvr_540.jpg

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/coyote.htm
 
The following two photos show what is ostensibly the coyote in Panama. Here, the tail seems to be about as dark as that of C. anthus.
 
Panama:

http://playacommunity.com/images/stories/caytoe.jpg
 
https://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-photo-female-coyote-canis-latrans-cagottis-at-a-prairie-field-in-the-lowlands-of-panama-104909774.jpg

SUMMARY

Until recently, nobody seemed to notice the differences between the Eurasian jackal (with its obviously short ears and short tail) and the North African jackal.

By that rather unobservant standard, the coyote would be regarded as the same species as the North African jackal, were it not for

• the geographical distinction, and
• the far thicker pelage of the coyote in cold environments.

The slight differences in the colouration of the hindquarters justify only a subspecific distinction between the North African jackal and the coyote.

to be continued in https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/69875-an-african-jackal-looks-like-an-american-jackal-canis-anthus-vs-canis-latrans-part-2#...

Posted on September 10, 2022 09:52 AM by milewski