Cerdocyonina is an extant subtribe of the

canines Canine may refer to: Zoology and anatomy * a dog-like Canid animal in the subfamily Caninae ** ''Canis'', a genus including dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals ** Dog, the domestic dog * Canine tooth, in mammalian oral anatomy People with the surn ...

and is exclusively endemic to the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. Often described to be "fox-like" in appearance and behavior, they are more closely related to the wolf-like canids such as ''

Canis ''Canis'' is a genus of the Caninae which includes multiple extant species, such as wolves, dogs, coyotes, and golden jackals. Species of this genus are distinguished by their moderate to large size, their massive, well-developed skulls and den ...

'' than they are to the fox genus ''

Vulpes '' Vulpes '' is a genus of the sub-family Caninae. The members of this genus are colloquially referred to as true foxes, meaning they form a proper clade. The word "fox" occurs in the common names of all species of the genus, but also appears ...

''. Its members are colloquially known as the South American canids and there are 10 extant species. They are sometimes referred to as South American foxes in the older literature, but the term zorro has been recommended by mammalogists to avoid confusion with the true foxes of the tribe

Vulpini Vulpini is a taxonomic rank which represents the fox-like tribe of the subfamily Caninae (the canines), and is sister to the dog-like tribe Canini. Genera Taxonomy The taxonomy of Carnivora in general and Canidae in particular correlates with ...

, which includes the genus ''

.''

Taxonomy

Cerdocyonina is a natural lineage whose common ancestor was sister to the ''Eucyon–Canis–Lycaon'' lineage. It is represented in the fossil record by ''Cerdocyon'' 6–5 million years ago, and by ''Theriodictis'' and ''Chrysocyon'' 5–4 million years ago. It most likely emerged from Central America. The fossil of a large form of the extinct ''Theriodictis'' that dates 2 million years ago was found in Florida. The maned wolf and an extinct species of the crab-eating zorro were in North America around this time, which was before the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

came into being, indicating the origin of the Cerdocyonina in North America. Prior to the 1990s there have been different systematic hypotheses pertaining to the relationships among South American canids, most frequent was the notion of there being three genera and subgenera (after Langguth 1969 and 1970): * Genus ''

Cerdocyon The crab-eating fox (''Cerdocyon thous''), also known as the forest fox, wood fox, bushdog (not to be confused with the bush dog) or maikong, is an extant species of medium-sized canid endemic to the central part of South America since at least ...

'' ** Subgenus ''

Atelocynus The short-eared dog (''Atelocynus microtis''), also known as the short-eared zorro or small-eared dog,de la Rosa, Carlos L.; and Nocke, Claudia. A Guide to the Carnivores of Central America: Natural History, Ecology, and Conservation. Austin: Uni ...

'' ** Subgenus ''Cerdocyon'' ** Subgenus ''

Speothos ''Speothos'' is a genus of canid found in Central and South America. The genus includes the living bush dog, '' Speothos venaticus'', and an extinct Pleistocene species, '' Speothos pacivorus''. Unusually, the fossil species was identified and ...

'' * Genus ''

Dusicyon ''Dusicyon'' is an extinct genus of South American canids. The type species is ''Dusicyon australis'', the Falkland Islands wolf. In 1914, Oldfield Thomas established this genus, in which he included the culpeo and other South American foxes. ...

'' ** Subgenus ''

Lycalopex The South American foxes (''Lycalopex''), commonly called ''raposa'' in Portuguese, or ''zorro'' in Spanish, are a genus from South America of the subfamily Caninae. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more ...

'' (Langguth recognized it as "''Pseudalopex''") ** Subgenus †''Dusicyon'' * Genus ''

Chrysocyon 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 ...

'' Morphological and DNA evidence shows that the South American canids, being the most diverse group of canids on any continent, forms its own natural group. In 2018, a study found that the extinct South American '' Canis gezi'' did not fall under genus ''Canis'' and should be classified under the Cerdocyonina, however no genus was proposed. The cladogram below is based on the phylogeny of Lindblad-Toh ''et al''. (2005), modified to incorporate recent findings on ''

'' species and ''

''.

References

Animal subtribes Canini (tribe) {{Canid-stub