Oxyhaemoglobin I isolated from the Brazilian wolf Chrysocyon brachiurus has been crystallized and X-ray diffraction data has been collected to 2.06 A resolution using a synchrotron-radiation source. Crystals were determined to belong to the space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and preliminary structural analysis revealed the presence of one tetramer in the asymmetric unit. The structure was determined usi...

The dog family, Canidae, is a widely distributed group of species that have evolved and radiated relatively recently into 16 genera and 36 recognized species (Nowak 1999). Specific taxonomic designations for some canid taxa can be unclear due to frequent interspecific hybridization among species in both historical and contemporary times, and our imperfect molecular genetic approaches for determ...

The marking and mating behaviour of captive hunting dogs, Lycaon pictus, is described. Urine scent-marking was the most frequent marking behaviour observed, but anal dragging, body-rolling and body-rubbing were also recorded. The mating behaviour was typical of that of Canidae but the copulatory tie in this case was of very short duration. There was a dense accumulation of sebaceous glands in t...

The masticatory apparatus amongst closely related carnivoran species raises intriguing questions about the interplay between allometry, function, and phylogeny in defining interspecific variations of cranial morphology. Here we describe the gross structure of the jaw adductor muscles of several species of canid, and then examine how the muscles are scaled across the range of body sizes, phyloge...

A popular perspective on the social behavior of dogs in multiple-dog households sees the dogs' behavior as reflecting the sociobiological laws of the rigidly structured dominance hierarchy that has been described for wolf packs. This view suggests that aggression problems among dogs are natural expressions of conflict that arise whenever dominance status is in contention. One recommended soluti...

The Egyptian jackal (Canis aureus lupaster) has hitherto been considered a large, rare subspecies of the golden jackal (C. aureus). It has maintained its taxonomical status to date, despite studies demonstrating morphological similarities to the grey wolf (C. lupus). We have analyzed 2055 bp of mitochondrial DNA from C. a. lupaster and investigated the similarity to C. aureus and C. lupus. Thro...