The dingo has been classified as a distinct Australian animal following research to fully define its physical characteristics.

The study has resurrected and fleshed-out the species name Canis dingo, first coined by German naturalist Friedrich Meyer in 1793.

Confusion over the dingo as a species stems partly from the original scientific classification of the Australian dingo, which was based on a simple drawing and description in the journal of Australia’s first governor, Arthur Phillip, with no actual physical specimens.

Determining the range of colours, sizes and shapes that dingoes appear in was a large part of the task.

Researchers dug through museum collections in Europe, Australia and America for specimens known or likely to pre-date 1900, to decrease the chance that the specimen may have cross-bred with domestic dogs.

They examined 69 skull specimens and six skin specimens to create a benchmark description of the dingo. The physical features that define the animal were found to be a relatively broad head with a long snout, as well as erect ears and a bushy tail.

“Many Australians like to think that dingoes are always yellow and that animals with any other colouration are not dingoes. This is untrue,” says Dr Mike Letnic, an author on the report from the UNSW School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences.

“One of our insights is that coat colour does not define an animal as a dingo, dog or a hybrid. We found that dingoes can be tan, dark, black and tan, white, or can have the sable coloration typical of German Shepherd dogs.”

“Now any wild canid – dingo, dog, or hybrid of the two – can be judged against that classification,” says Dr Crowther, from the University of Sydney’s School of Biological Sciences.

“We can also conclusively say that the dingo is a distinctive Australian wild canid or member of the dog family in its own right, separate from dogs and wolves.

“The appropriate scientific classification is Canis dingo, as they appear not to be descended from wolves, are distinct from dogs and are not a subspecies.”

CareerSpot recently spoke to Dr Letnic about the broader plight of the dingo, especially in regard to widespread poisoning programs.

Dingoes have an important role in conservation through their role as Australia’s largest land predator. Dingoes regulate of species such as kangaroos, wallabies, and invasive red foxes and cats.

It is hoped that a better understanding of dingo numbers, based on the clearer identification, will improve understanding of their role in biodiversity.

“Distinguishing dingoes from their hybrids (cross-breeds) with feral dogs is a practical concern. Current policies in parts of Australia support the conservation of dingoes but the extermination of ‘dingo-dogs’, which are considered a major pest because they kill livestock,” says Dr Crowther.

Dingoes were introduced to Australia around three to five thousand years ago, with genetic evidence suggesting they originated from East Asian domestic dogs. They bred in isolation until the arrival of domestic dogs after European settlement.

“That made distinguishing dingoes from dogs problematic, as the DNA tests and analyses of their physical structure were based on dingoes whose ancestry was not known. They were either captive animals or wild animals of uncertain ancestry,” says Dr Crowther.

The full report has been published in the Journal of Zoology.