Canidae

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(Redirected from Canines)
Canidae
Image:Coyote portrait.jpg
Coyote (Canis latrans)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Carnivora
Family:Canidae
G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
Genera

Canidae is the family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals commonly known as canines. It includes dogs, wolves, foxes, coyotes, and jackals. These animals are all digitigrades, meaning they walk on their toes.

When mating, male canines develop a distinctive knot (the bulbis glandis) at the base of the erect penis which tends to trap the phallus inside the female's vagina for some time after copulation, ensuring greater reproductive success. [1]

A classification of dogs

Note that the subdivision of Canidae into "foxes" and "true dogs" may not be in accordance with the actual relations, and that the classification of several canines is disputed. Recent DNA analysis have shown, however, that Canini and Vulpini are valid clades, with the exception of two genera: Nyctereutes and Otocyon. These are canid "outgroups" and are not closely related to vulpines nor canines. Speothos and Chrysocyon are primitive members of Canini, but might be placed in their own clade. Cuon may in fact be part of Canis and there is evidence that Alopex and Fennecus are no valid clades, but are both part of Vulpes. The Domestic Dog is listed by some authorities as Canis familiaris and others (including the Smithsonian Institution and the American Society of Mammalogists) as a subspecies of the Wolf (i.e., Canis lupus familiaris); the Red Wolf may or may not be a full species; and the Dingo, which is variously classified as Canis lupus dingo, Canis dingo and Canis familiaris dingo.

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