Dingo - Dingo (English spelling)

An animal of the order Carnivora, family Canidae. Also called Jingo. Widely distributed in Australia, except in dense forest areas, it resembles a medium-sized Japanese dog, but has a long snout, does not curl its tail, and has significantly larger carnassial teeth. It is 100 cm long and about 35 cm long. Unlike wolves, its ears point outward and upward, its hair is short, measuring about 3 cm on the back and 6 cm on the tail, and its tail is not tufted. Its hair color ranges from black to white, but is usually yellowish brown with a light color on the underside of the body, and the tips of its tail and feet are often white, with no dark spots on the front of its forelimbs. It lives in rabbit holes or under rocks, and preys on sheep, rabbits, kangaroos, etc., and scavenges on the scraps of indigenous people. It rarely barks. It closely resembles the original dog species that lived in Europe during the Stone Age. It was thought that the domesticated dogs were brought by the indigenous people about 9,000 years ago and then went wild, but in recent years, a theory has emerged that they are a different wild species from dogs and have never been domesticated, so the truth remains unclear. The New Guinea dog, which lives in the mountainous areas of New Guinea, is often considered to be the same species.

[Yoshinori Imaizumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

哺乳(ほにゅう)綱食肉目イヌ科の動物。ジンゴともいう。密林地帯を除くオーストラリアに広く分布し、中形日本犬に似るが吻(ふん)が長く、尾を巻かず、裂肉歯が顕著に大きい。体長100センチメートル、尾長35センチメートル前後。オオカミと違って耳介が外上方に向かい、毛が短く背筋で3センチメートル、尾で6センチメートル前後、尾が房状でない。毛色は黒から白まであるが、普通は黄褐色で体の下面は淡色、尾と足の先が多くは白色、前肢前面に暗色斑(はん)を欠く。ウサギの穴や岩の下にすみ、ヒツジ、ウサギ、カンガルーなどを捕食するほか、先住民の残飯をあさる。めったにほえない。石器時代にヨーロッパにいたイヌの原種に酷似する。先住民が約9000年前に連れてきた家畜犬が野生化したと考えられていたが、近年、イヌとは別の野生種で、一度も家畜化されたことがないとの説も現れ、真相は明らかにされていない。ニューギニア島の山地に分布するニューギニアイヌもしばしば同種とされる。

［今泉吉典］

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