The Andean wolf (previously described as ''Dasycyon hagenbecki'', though this now not an accepted taxon) is a purported south american
canine that is falsely labelled a wolf. Various tests on the singular pelt have failed to provide a conclusive identity.
History
In 1927, Lorenz Hagenbeck bought one of three
pelt
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket ...
s from a dealer in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
who claimed that they had come from a wild dog of the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
. The pelt ended up in Munich where the German mammalogist Ingo Krumbiegel examined it in 1940.
Krumbiegel published two papers describing the animal and giving it the
scientific name of ''Dasycyon hagenbecki''. The American zoologist Howard J. Stains supported Krumbeigel's new
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Dasycyon''.
[Stains, Howard J. 1975. Distribution and taxonomy of the Canidae. In M. W. Fox (ed.), The wild canids, their systematics, behavioral ecology and evolution. New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., pp. 3-26] Other mammalogists believed that the skin was that of a domestic dog.
[
In 1954 Fritz Dieterlen published results comparing samples of hair taken from the Munich pelt with hair from various canids. He found that there were significant similarities between the Munich pelt hair and German Shepherd hair.]
Skull
In 1935 Krumbiegel is said to have studied a skull supposedly similar that of a maned wolf
The maned wolf (''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') is a large canine of South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay, and is almost extinct in Uruguay. Its markings resemble those of foxes, but it is neither a fox nor a w ...
(''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') but larger and reportedly obtained from outside of the range of the maned wolf. This gave him confidence in his description of the Munich pelt as a new genus.
Current status
In 2000 DNA analysis of the pelt was attempted but the samples were found to be contaminated with human, dog, wolf and pig DNA.
See also
* Culpeo
The culpeo (''Lycalopex culpaeus''), also known as culpeo zorro, Andean zorro, Andean fox, Paramo wolf, Andean wolf,Comparative ecology of two South American foxes, 'Dusicvon ariseus' and 'culpaeus' by Warren E. Johnson. Doctoral dissertation. Io ...
- ''Lycalopex culpaeus'', also known as an Andean wolf.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2164302, from2=Q108545046
Wolves
Extinct canines
Controversial mammal taxa