The XVIIIth (New) International Congress of Zoology

Le XVIIIème (Nouveau) Congrès International de Zoologie

The relationships among many species within the dog family (Canidae) remain unresolved despite numerous systematic studies. Two areas of continued disagreement are the relationships within the wolf-like canids and within the South American canids. Prior work based on morphology, allozyme variation, and karyology have failed to provide a consistent picture of relationships among these taxa. In large part, the lack of success of these analyses was due to the close relationships among many canid species and convergent evolution. We resolve several persistent controversies concerning relationships within the Canidae by analysis of 2001 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA sequence data from 24 canid species. Our primary conclusions are that: (1) the gray fox, raccoon dog and bat-eared fox are basal to the other canids; (2) the fennec fox is the sister group to Vulpes; (3) the South American foxes are monophyletic; (4) the enigmatic bush dog and maned wolf are sister taxa; and (5) the jackals are paraphyletic. The mtDNA tree topology, coupled with data from the fossil record, and estimates of rates of DNA sequence divergence suggests there were at least three different North American lineages that have left survivors in South America. The ability to resolve these systematic questions reflects the occurrence of distinct episodes in the adaptive radiation of the Canidae.