''Dusicyon'' is an extinct genus of South American

canid Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', "dog") is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). There are three subfamilies found within the ...

s. 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. These other canids were removed to '' Lycalopex'' by Langguth in 1975. ''

Dusicyon avus ''Dusicyon avus'' is an extinct species of cerdocyonine canid in the genus ''Dusicyon,'' native to South America during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. It was medium to large, about the size of a German shepherd. It was closely related to ...

'', widely distributed in the late Pleistocene from Uruguay through

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of t ...

to southernmost

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, is the closest known relative of the Falkland Islands wolf; the two lineages split only about 16,000 years ago. It died out in the late Holocene, earlier estimates suggested about 2,980 years ago on the island of Tierra del Fuego and almost 1,700 years ago in the continent. More recent research confirms much later extinction dates, with the latest confirmed records in the Pampean Region being 700 BP (1232–1397 AD) and southernmost Patagonia at 400 years BP (1454–1626 AD). There is still much debate about the classification of ''"Dusicyon" cultridens''. It has been suggested that this species be placed in the genera ''

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

'' or '' Lycalopex''. This debate makes ''D. cultridens'' poorly researched.

References

External links

(''Lycalopex'' mentioned as ''Dusicyon'') THE DANGEROUS WILD ANIMALS ACT 1976 (MODIFICATION) (NO.2) ORDER 2007. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/2465/schedule/made accessed 26 March 2014. Cerdocyonina Foxes Mammal genera Carnivorans of South America Holocene extinctions Extinct mammals of South America Mammals described in 1839 Taxa named by Charles Hamilton Smith {{canid-extinct-stub