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Raccoon dogs

Raccoon dog
Tanuki01 960.jpg
Wild raccoon dogs at Fukuyama, Hiroshima.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Family: Canidae
Genus: Nyctereutes
Species: N. procyonoides
Binomial name
Nyctereutes procyonoides
(Gray, 1834)
Raccoon Dog area.png
Raccoon dog range
Blue—native
Red—introduced
Raccoon dog
Chinese name
Chinese
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese 貉子
Second alternative Chinese name
Chinese
Korean name
Hangul 너구리
Japanese name
Kanji
Kana たぬき

The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides, from the Greek words nukt-, "night" + ereutēs, "wanderer" + prokuōn, "before-dog" [but in New Latin used to mean "raccoon"] + -oidēs, ""), also known as the mangut or tanuki, is a canid indigenous to East Asia. It is the only extant species in the genus Nyctereutes. It is considered a basal canid species, resembling ancestral forms of the family.

Among the Canidae, the raccoon dog shares the habit of regularly climbing trees only with the North American gray fox, another basal species. The raccoon dog is named for its superficial resemblance to the raccoon (Procyon lotor), to which it is not closely related.

Native East Asian raccoon dog populations have declined in recent years due to hunting, fur trade, urbanization, the increase of animals associated with human civilization (such as pets and abandoned animals) and diseases that may be transmitted between them. In Sweden, it has been treated as a potentially hazardous invasive species.

Raccoon dog skulls greatly resemble those of South American foxes, particularly crab-eating foxes, though genetic studies reveal they are not closely related. Their skulls are small, but sturdily built and moderately elongated, with narrow zygomatic arches. The projections of the skull are well developed, the sagittal crest being particularly prominent in old animals.


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Wikipedia

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