Canis lupus dingo
10 Dingo at Rendezvous Creek, ACT
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| Canis lupus dingo | MichaelBedingfield | 16 Dec 2025 | |
| Canis lupus dingo | KMcCue | 13 Dec 2025 |
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9 comments
15 Dec 2025
Older sources say the dingo is Canis lupus dingo, however, more modern sources list the dingo as Canis familiaris dingo, indicating a closer relationship to the domestic dog than the wolf. Those are gorgeously healthy dingoes.
15 Dec 2025
And other modern ones say Canis dingo. The DNA says closer to Asian Wolf than to domestic dog.
15 Dec 2025
Thanks Don, I was working on a reply quoting your recent article in the NPA Bulletin Vol 62, No 4 December 2025. Canis dingo is a more apt description based on recent DNA data. Also early European descriptions of southeast Australian dingoes included the descriptions black, white, tan and brindle.
15 Dec 2025
As both dogs and dingoes are only wolves in neater clothes and all can interbreed and produce viable offspring, perhaps, I'll retract my suggestion and return to Canis lupus.
17 Dec 2025
There are strict rules about scientific names. An inappropriate name remains the correct name until a change has been proposed AND ACCEPTED. At this stage the Australian Faunal Directory still lists the Dingo as Canis familiaris, so that is its correct name.
18 Dec 2025
That is what I originally suggested and I managed to do it without resorting to upper case lettering.
20 Dec 2025
What a terrific photo! According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (The Dingo Debate, editor Bradley Smith, CSIRO) Genus: Canis, Species: Canis dingo, Common names: Dingo.
The publishing date is 2015 - that's a fair while ago. As distinct from Canis familiaris, Dingos breed annually!
The publishing date is 2015 - that's a fair while ago. As distinct from Canis familiaris, Dingos breed annually!
Location information
- Maps Namadgi National Park
- Places Rendezvous Creek, ACT
Sighting information
- 5 Abundance
- KMcCue Recorded by
Collections
Species information
- Canis lupus dingo Scientific name
- Dingo Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1538.5m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
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Synonyms
Canis lupus dingo Canus dingo Canis lupus familiaris Canis familaris Mirri
Record quality
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