Canis etruscus

Canis etruscus, is an extinct species of canine that was endemic to Mediterranean Europe and Crimean Peninsula during the Early Pleistocene. The Etruscan wolf is described as a small wolf-like dog. It is widely agreed to be the ancestor of Canis mosbachensis, and thus ultimately the modern grey wolf as well as dholes and African wild dogs.

Canis etruscus

Emiliano Burzagli · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CanisPBDB
Diet
carnivore, omnivorePBDB, for Canidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Canidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 1.8 million years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 774 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 11.63 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Miocene — about 1 of 45 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 8 of 45 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 37 of 45 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 45 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences10–9.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences9.7–9.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences9.3–8.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.9–8.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.5–8.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.1–7.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.7–7.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.3–6.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.9–6.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.5–6.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.1–5.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.7–5.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.3–4.9 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.9–4.4 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.4–4.0 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.0–3.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.6–3.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.2–2.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.8–2.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.4–2.0 Mya — about 7 occurrences2.0–1.6 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.6–1.2 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.2–809 ka Mya — about 5 occurrences809 ka–404 ka Mya — about 6 occurrences404 ka–0 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.58 Mya774 ka12.1 Mya0 Mya

45 occurrences of Canis etruscus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

45 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

4 formations

'Ubeidiya — 32.68°N, 35.57°EGerakarou — 40.68°N, 23.15°EKairubak suite — 38.60°N, 69.11°EGuadix — 37.42°N, 3.17°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Canis etruscus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 40 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Canis etruscus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Canis etruscus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

390 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 45 sites for Canis etruscus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

35 references

Each of the 45 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 23 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Canis etruscus

Credit
Emiliano Burzagli
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCanis through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Forsyth Major 1877