View source for Jackal

{{Short description|Several species of canines}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Thos|the beast in heraldry|theow}}
{{Confusion|Jackaroo}}
{{Paraphyletic group
| name = Jackal
| image = Flickr - Rainbirder - Golden Jackal (1).jpg
| image_alt = Golden jackal ("Canis aureus")
| image_caption = [[Golden jackal]] (''Canis aureus'')
| range_map = Jackals.png
| auto = yes
| parent = Canina
| display_parents = 2
| includes_text = Species referred to as jackals
| includes =
* ''[[Lupulella adusta]]''
* ''[[Lupulella mesomelas]]''
* ''[[Canis aureus]]''
}}

'''Jackals''' are [[Canidae|canids]] native to [[Africa]] and [[Eurasia]]. While the word {{wikt-lang|en|jackal}} has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe [[Canina (subtribe)|canina]], in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related [[black-backed jackal]] (''Lupulella mesomelas'') and [[side-striped jackal]] (''Lupulella adusta'') of [[Central Africa|Central]] and [[Southern Africa]], and the [[golden jackal]] (''Canis aureus'') of south-central Europe and Asia. The African [[African wolf|golden wolf]] (''Canis lupaster'') was also formerly considered a jackal.

While they do not form a [[monophyly|monophyletic]] [[clade]], all jackals are opportunistic omnivores, predators of small to medium-sized animals and proficient [[scavenger]]s. Their long legs and curved [[Canine tooth|canine teeth]] are adapted for hunting small [[mammal]]s, birds, and [[reptile]]s, and their large feet and fused leg bones give them a physique well-suited for long-distance running, capable of maintaining speeds of {{Convert|16|km/h|mph|abbr=on|0}} for extended periods of time. Jackals are [[Crepuscular animal|crepuscular]], most active at dawn and dusk.

Their most common social unit is a [[Monogamy in animals|monogamous]] pair, which defends its territory from other pairs by vigorously chasing intruders and [[Territory (animal)#Visual|marking landmarks]] around the [[territory (animal)|territory]] with their [[urine]] and [[feces]]. The territory may be large enough to hold some young adults, which stay with their parents until they establish their own territories. Jackals may occasionally assemble in small [[pack (canine)|pack]]s, for example, to scavenge a carcass, but they normally hunt either alone or in pairs.

== Etymology ==
The English word ''jackal'' dates back to 1600 and derives from [[French language|French]] {{wikt-lang|fr|chacal}}, itself from [[Ottoman Turkish]] {{wikt-lang|ota|چقال}} ({{wikt-lang|tr|çakal}}), itself from [[Persian language|Persian]] {{wikt-lang|fa|شغال}} (''{{Transliteration|fa|shaghāl}}''), from or cognate with [[Sanskrit]] {{wikt-lang|sa|शृगाल}} (''{{Transliteration|sa|śṛgāla-}}''), meaning 'the howler'.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=jackal|title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|chapter=jackal}}</ref><ref>{{OEtymD|jackal}}</ref>

== Taxonomy and relationships ==
{{Cladogram|align=left|title=The extant wolf-like canids|caption=[[Phylogenetic tree|Phylogenetic relationships]] between the extant wolf-like clade of canids based on [[mitochondrial DNA]].<ref name=lindblad2005/><ref name=koepfli2015/>
|cladogram={{clade | style = font-size: 85%;line-height:50%;width:325px;
 |1={{clade
  |1={{clade
   |1={{clade
    |1={{clade
     |1={{clade
       |1={{clade
        |1={{clade
         |1={{clade
          |1=[[Dog]] <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:202104 Dog.svg|50 px]]</span>
          |2=[[Wolf|Gray wolf]] [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes  (Plate I).jpg|50 px]]
          }}
         |2=[[Coyote]] [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes  (Plate IX).jpg|50 px]]
         }}
        |2=[[African wolf|Golden wolf]] [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes (Plate XI).jpg|50 px]]
        }}
       |2='''[[Golden jackal]]''' [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes (Plate X).jpg|50 px]]
       }}
      |2= [[Ethiopian wolf]] [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes (Plate VI).jpg|50 px]]
      }}
     |2=[[Dhole]] [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes (Plate XLI).jpg|50 px]]
     }}
    |2=[[African wild dog]] [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes (Plate XLIV).jpg|50 px]]
   }}
  |2={{clade
   |1={{clade
    |1='''[[Side-striped jackal]]''' [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes (Plate XIII).jpg|50 px]]
    |2='''[[Black-backed jackal]]''' [[File:Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes (Plate XII).jpg|50 px]]
    }}
   }}
  }}
 }}
}}

Similarities between jackals and coyotes led [[Lorenz Oken]], in the third volume of his ''Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte'' (1815), to place these species into a new separate genus, ''Thos'', named after the classical Greek word {{lang|grc|θώς}} "jackal", but his theory had little immediate impact on taxonomy at the time. [[Ángel Cabrera (naturalist)|Angel Cabrera]], in his 1932 monograph on the mammals of [[Morocco]], questioned whether or not the presence of a [[Cingulum (tooth)|cingulum]] on the upper [[Molar (tooth)|molars]] of the jackals and its corresponding absence in the rest of ''Canis'' could justify a subdivision of that genus. In practice, Cabrera chose the undivided-genus alternative and referred to the jackals as ''Canis'' instead of ''Thos''.<ref name="thos" />

Oken's ''Thos'' theory was revived in 1914 by [[Edmund Heller]], who embraced the separate genus theory. Heller's names and the designations he gave to various jackal species and subspecies live on in current taxonomy, although the genus has been changed from ''Thos'' to ''Canis''.<ref name="thos">{{Cite web|url=http://www.holgerhomann.us/Thos_vs%20%20Canis.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416085153/http://www.holgerhomann.us/Thos_vs%20%20Canis.htm|url-status=dead|title=None|archivedate=April 16, 2008}}</ref>

The wolf-like canids are a group of large carnivores that are genetically closely related. They all have 78 [[chromosome]]s. The group includes genus ''Canis'', ''Cuon'', and ''Lycaon''. The members are the [[dog]] ''(C. lupus familiaris)'', [[Wolf|gray wolf]] (''C. lupus''),  [[coyote]] (''C. latrans''), [[golden jackal]] (''C. aureus''), [[Ethiopian wolf]] (''C. simensis''), [[black-backed jackal]] (''C. mesomelas''), [[side-striped jackal]] (''C. adustus''), [[dhole]] (''Cuon alpinus''), and [[African wild dog]] (''Lycaon pictus'').<ref name=wayne1993/> The latest recognized member is the [[African wolf]] (''C. lupaster''), which was once thought to be an African branch of the golden jackal.<ref name=koepfli2015/> As they possess 78 chromosomes, all members of the genus ''[[Canis]]'' are [[Karyotype|karyologically]] indistinguishable from each other, and from the dhole and the African hunting dog.<ref name=wayne2006/><ref name=wurster1982/> The two African jackals are shown to be the most [[basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] members of this clade, indicating the clade's origin from Africa.<ref name=lindblad2005/> ''[[Canis arnensis]]'' arrived in Mediterranean Europe 1.9 million years ago and is probably the ancestor of modern jackals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bartolini Lucenti|first1=Saverio|last2=Rook|first2=Lorenzo|date=2016-11-01|title=A review on the Late Villafranchian medium-sized canid Canis arnensis based on the evidence from Poggio Rosso (Tuscany, Italy)|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379116303493|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|language=en|volume=151|pages=58–71|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.09.005|bibcode=2016QSRv..151...58B |issn=0277-3791|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The paraphyletic nature of ''Canis'' with respect to ''[[Lycaon (genus)|Lycaon]]'' and ''[[Dhole|Cuon]]'' has led to suggestions that the two African jackals should be assigned to different genera, ''Schaeffia'' for the side-striped jackal and ''Lupulella'' for the black-backed jackal<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Zrzavy, J. |author2=Ricankova, V. |year=2004 |title=Phylogeny of recent Canidae (Mammalia, Carnivora): relative reliability and the utility of morphological and molecular datasets |journal=Zool. Scr. |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=311–333 |doi=10.1111/j.0300-3256.2004.00152.x |s2cid=84733263 }}</ref> or ''Lupulella'' for both.<ref name=Privosti-2010>{{cite journal |last1=Privosti |first1=Francisco J. |title=Phylogeny of the large extinct South American Canids (Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae) using a ''total evidence'' approach |journal=Cladistics |volume=26 |issue=5 |year=2010 |pages=456–481 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00298.x |pmid=34875763 |s2cid=86650539 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>Viranta, S., Atickem, A., Werdelin, L., & Stenseth, N. C. (2017). Rediscovering a forgotten canid species. ''BMC Zoology'', ''2''(1), 6.</ref>

The intermediate size and shape of the Ethiopian wolf has at times led it to be regarded as a jackal, thus it has also been called the "red jackal" or the "Simien jackal".
{{clear}}

== Species ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"
|- style="background:#115a6c;"
!Species
!Binomial authority
!Description
!Range
|-
|'''[[Black-backed jackal]]'''<br />''Lupulella mesomelas''
[[File:L. m. mesomelas, Sunday's River Valley Local Municipality 3.jpg|150 px]]
|[[Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber|Schreber]], 1775
|The most lightly built jackal, once considered to be the oldest living member of the genus ''Canis'',<ref name="CLAW">{{cite book | author=Macdonald, David | title=The Velvet Claw | year=1992 | isbn=978-0-563-20844-0 | page=[https://archive.org/details/velvetclawnatura00macd/page/256 256] | publisher=BBC Books | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/velvetclawnatura00macd/page/256 }}</ref> it is now placed in the genus ''Lupulella''. It is the most aggressive of the jackals, being known to attack animal prey many times its own weight, and it has more quarrelsome intrapack relationships.<ref name=estes>{{cite book |title=The behavior guide to African mammals: including hoofed mammals, carnivores, primates |first=Richard |last=Estes |publisher=University of California Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-520-08085-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0520080858 }}</ref>
|[[Southern Africa]] and eastern coast of [[Kenya]], [[Somalia]], and [[Ethiopia]]
|-
|'''[[Side-striped jackal]]'''<br />''Lupulella adustus''<br /><span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:CANIS ADUSTUS dans le park zoologique de kinshasa (cropped).jpg|150 px]]</span>
|[[Carl Jakob Sundevall|Sundevall]], 1847
| It primarily resides in wooded areas, unlike other jackal species. It is the least aggressive of the jackals, rarely preying on large mammals.<ref name="ssj">{{cite web | title = Side-Striped Jackal | publisher = Canids.org | url = http://www.canids.org/species/side-striped_jackal.pdf | access-date = 2010-03-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090220010219/http://www.canids.org/species/Side-striped_jackal.pdf | archive-date = 2009-02-20 }}</ref>
|[[central Africa|Central]] and southern Africa
|-
|'''[[Golden jackal]]'''<br />''Canis aureus''<br />[[File:Golden jackal in Jorasi Range.jpeg|150 px]]
|[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
|The largest and most widespread of the jackals, it is more closely related to wolves than to African jackal species.
|[[Southeast Europe|Southeastern Europe]], Middle East, western Asia, and [[South Asia]]
|-
|}

==Folklore and literature==
Like [[fox]]es and coyotes, jackals are often depicted as clever sorcerers in the myths and legends of their regions. They are mentioned roughly 14 times in the [[Bible]]. It is frequently used as a literary device to illustrate desolation, loneliness, and abandonment, with reference to its habit of living in the ruins of former cities and other areas abandoned by humans. It is called "wild dog" in several translations of the Bible. In the [[King James Version|King James Bible]], Isaiah 13:21 refers to 'doleful creatures', which some commentators suggest are either jackals or [[Hyena|hyenas]].<ref>[http://classic.net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=JACKAL "Jackal"], classic.net.bible.org; accessed 26 February 2015.</ref>

In the Indian ''[[Panchatantra]]'' stories, the jackal is mentioned as wily and wise.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|page=189|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9788184752779|author=Roshen Dalal|date=18 April 2014 }}</ref> In Bengali tantrik tradition, they represent the goddess [[Kali]]. It is said she appears as jackals when meat is offered to her.

The [[Canidae|canid]] which Anubis was modeled upon has frequently been stated to have been the [[golden jackal]], though the African variant of this animal present in Egypt was reclassified in 2015 as a separate species now known as the [[African wolf]], which was found to be more closely related to [[Wolf|wolves]] and [[coyote]]s than to the jackal.<ref name=Koepfli-2015>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.060|pmid=26234211|title=Genome-wide Evidence Reveals that African and Eurasian Golden Jackals Are Distinct Species|journal=Current Biology|volume=25 |issue=#16 |pages=2158–65 |year=2015 |last1=Koepfli |first1=Klaus-Peter |last2=Pollinger |first2=John |last3=Godinho |first3=Raquel |last4=Robinson |first4=Jacqueline |last5=Lea|first5=Amanda |last6=Hendricks|first6=Sarah|last7=Schweizer|first7=Rena M.|last8=Thalmann|first8=Olaf|last9=Silva|first9=Pedro|last10=Fan|first10=Zhenxin|last11=Yurchenko|first11=Andrey A.|last12=Dobrynin|first12=Pavel|last13=Makunin|first13=Alexey|last14=Cahill|first14=James A.|last15=Shapiro|first15=Beth|last16=Álvares|first16=Francisco|last17=Brito|first17=José C.|last18=Geffen|first18=Eli|last19=Leonard|first19=Jennifer A.|last20=Helgen|first20=Kristofer M.|last21=Johnson|first21=Warren E.|last22=o'Brien|first22=Stephen J.|last23=Van Valkenburgh|first23=Blaire|last24=Wayne|first24=Robert K.|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015CBio...25.2158K }}</ref> Some authors have opined that Anubis is more probably modeled after a [[fox]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Osborn |first1=D. |last2=Helmy |first2=I. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/contemporaryland05osbo/page/366/mode/2up?q=anubis |title=The contemporary land mammals of Egypt (including Sinai) |year=1980|publisher=Field Museum of Natural History |location=Chicago |chapter=Canis aureus lupaster (Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833)|quote=We are inclined to believe that Anubis was a fox rather than a jackal, because all of the statuary and heiroglyphs of Anubis are of an animal with the tail of a fox.|page=367}}</ref> or [[Ethiopian wolf]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clutton-Brock |first1=J. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ptKaDwAAQBAJ&dq=anubis+simien&pg=PA384 |title=Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution |year=1996|publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca |chapter=Competitors, Companions, Status Symbols, or Pests: A Review of Human Associations with Other Carnivores|quote=To me, the head of the typical Anubis looks very like the head of a Simien jackal, with its long, thin snout and large ears. It does not seem improbable that this canid was known to the Egyptians, and because it was doglike but exotic it became especially revered.|page=348|isbn=978-1-5017-4582-9 }}</ref> Nevertheless, ancient Greek texts about Anubis consistently refer to the deity as having the head of a dog rather than that of any wild canid, and there is still uncertainty as to what species represents Anubis.

The [[Serer religion]] and [[Serer creation myth|creation myth]] posits jackals were among the first animals created by [[Roog]], the supreme deity of the [[Serer people]].<ref>{{citation| author-link=Issa Laye Thiaw|last=Thiaw|first=Issa laye|url=http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_17308-1522-1-30.pdf?090827174112|title=Mythe de la création du monde selon les sages sereer|pages=45–50|work=Enracinement et Ouverture — "Plaidoyer pour le dialogue interreligieux"|publisher=[[Konrad Adenauer Stiftung]]|date=23–24 June 2009|language=fr|location=[[Dakar]]}}</ref>

In [[Nonviolent Communication]] (NVC) the Jackal is used to represent one’s inner judgmental voice. The Jackal represents inner thoughts and stories about others and ourselves. [[Marshall Rosenberg]], the father of NVC, said that he came up with the metaphor of the Jackal when traveling in Europe and one of his workshop participants were complaining about her husband when Marshall asked "are you still dealing with that old jackal?". Since then he routinely used the Jackal to present the counterpart to the nonviolent giraffe in NVC.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://streetgiraffe.com/origin-story/ | title=Origin Story (Of Jackal/Giraffe) | date=24 May 2018 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=koepfli2015>{{cite journal|last1=Koepfli|first1=K.-P.|last2=Pollinger|first2=J.|last3=Godinho|first3=R.|last4=Robinson|first4=J.|last5=Lea|first5=A.|last6=Hendricks|first6=S.|last7=Schweizer|first7=R. M.|last8=Thalmann|first8=O.|last9=Silva|first9=P.|last10=Fan|first10=Z.|last11=Yurchenko|first11=A. A.|last12=Dobrynin|first12=P.|last13=Makunin|first13=A.|last14=Cahill|first14=J. A.|last15=Shapiro|first15=B.|last16=Álvares|first16=F.|last17=Brito|first17=J. C.|last18=Geffen|first18=E.|last19=Leonard|first19=J. A.|last20=Helgen|first20=K. M.|last21=Johnson|first21=W. E.|last22=O’Brien|first22=S. J.|last23=Van Valkenburgh|first23=B.|last24=Wayne|first24=R. K.|title=Genome-wide Evidence Reveals that African and Eurasian Golden Jackals Are Distinct Species|journal=Current Biology|volume=25|issue=16|pages=2158–65|date=2015-08-17|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.060|pmid=26234211|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015CBio...25.2158K }}</ref>

<ref name=lindblad2005>{{Cite journal | last1 = Lindblad-Toh | first1 = K. | last2 = Wade | first2 = C. M. | last3 = Mikkelsen | first3 = T. S. | last4 = Karlsson | first4 = E. K. | last5 = Jaffe | first5 = D. B. | last6 = Kamal | first6 = M.| last7 = Clamp | first7 = M. | last8 = Chang | first8 = J. L. | last9 = Kulbokas | first9 = E. J. | last10 = Zody | doi = 10.1038/nature04338 | first10 = M. C. | last11 = Mauceli | first11 = E. | last12 = Xie | first12 = X. | last13 = Breen | first13 = M. | last14 = Wayne | first14 = R. K. | last15 = Ostrander | first15 = E. A. | last16 = Ponting | first16 = C. P. | last17 = Galibert | first17 = F. | last18 = Smith | first18 = D. R. | last19 = Dejong | first19 = P. J. | last20 = Kirkness | first20 = E. | last21 = Alvarez | first21 = P. | last22 = Biagi | first22 = T. | last23 = Brockman | first23 = W. | last24 = Butler | first24 = J. | last25 = Chin | first25 = C. W. | last26 = Cook | first26 = A. | last27 = Cuff | first27 = J. | last28 = Daly | first28 = M. J. | last29 = Decaprio | first29 = D. | last30 = Gnerre | first30 = S. | title = Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog | journal = Nature | volume = 438 | issue = 7069 | pages = 803–819 | year = 2005 | pmid = 16341006| bibcode = 2005Natur.438..803L | display-authors = 29 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=wayne1993>{{cite journal|author=Wayne, R.|year=1993|title=Molecular evolution of the dog family|journal=Trends in Genetics|volume=9|issue=6|pages=218–24|doi=10.1016/0168-9525(93)90122-X|pmid=8337763}}</ref>

<ref name=wayne2006>{{cite book|editor=Melinda A. Zeder|title=Documenting Domestication:New Genetic and Archaeological Paradigms|author1=Robert K. Wayne |author2=Jennifer A. Leonard |author3=Carles Vila|chapter=Chapter 19:Genetic Analysis of Dog Domestication|publisher=University of California Press|year=2006|pages=279–295|chapter-url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=EaVTxjrbIFQC|page=279}}|isbn=978-0-520-24638-6}}</ref>

<ref name=wurster1982>{{cite journal|last1=Wurster-Hill|first1=D. H.|first2=W. R.|last2=Centerwall|year=1982|title=The interrelationships of chromosome banding patterns in canids, mustelids, hyena, and felids|journal= Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics|volume=34|issue=1–2|pages=178–192|pmid=7151489|doi=10.1159/000131806}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* ''The New Encyclopedia of Mammals'' edited by David Macdonald, Oxford University Press, 2001; {{ISBN|0-19-850823-9}}
* ''Cry of the Kalahari'', by Mark and Delia Owens, Mariner Books, 1992.
* ''The Velvet Claw: A Natural History of the Carnivores'', by David MacDonald, BBC Books, 1992.
* ''Foxes, Wolves, and Wild Dogs of the World'', by David Alderton, Facts on File, 2004.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Jackals}}

{{wikispecies|Jackals}}

* [http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/jackal Jackal] at the African Wildlife Foundation
* [http://a-z-animals.com/animals/jackal/ Jackals] at A-Z Animals
* [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/jackals-of-the-african-crater-introduction/2008/ ''Jackals of the African Crater''] at PBS.org

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackal}}
[[Category:Jackals]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1758]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Mammal common names]]
[[Category:Mammals of Africa]]