Cynotherium sardous Studiati, 1857
Sardinian dog, Sardinian dhole
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Although commonly referred to as the 'Sardinian Dhole', Cynotherium sardous is in fact believed to be more closely related to the living African wild dog (Lycaon pictus).
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: c. 9,350 BC
Distribution
Corsica & Sardinia, Italy
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
CB 84-8022 (humerus)
CB 84-8022 (atlas)
CB 84-8022 (scapula)
An extensive list of material can be found in Abbazzi et al. (2005).
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Studiati, C. (1857). Description des fossiles de la brèche osseuse de Monreale de Bonaria. In: La Marmora - "Voyage ed Sardegne" 2: 651-704.
Other references:
Abbazzi L., M. Arca, C. Tuveri & L. Rook. (2005). The endemic canid Cynotherium (Mammalia, Carnivora) from the Pleistocene deposits of Monte Tuttavista (Nuoro, Eastern Sardinia). Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 111(3): 497.
Alcover, Josep Antoni et al. (1998). Mammal Species of the World: Additional Data on Insular Mammals. American Museum Novitates 3248, 29 pp., 1 table.
Bonifray, M. F. (1994). Les carnivores de la Grotte de Macinaggio (Haute-Corse). Bull. Soc. Sc. Hist. Nat. Corse 668-669: 97-113.
Ciucani, Marta Maria et al. (2021a). Genomic analyses of the extinct Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous) reveal its evolutionary history. bioRxiv preprint. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.26.432714
Ciucani, Marta Maria et al. (2021b). Evolutionary history of the extinct Sardinian dhole. Current Biology 31(24): 5571-5579.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.059
Comaschi Caria, I. (1968). Fossili marini e continentali del Quaternario della Sardegna. Pubbl. 1st Geol. Paleont. Geogr. Fis. Univ. Cagliari 8(83): 1-7.
Eisenman, Vera. (1990). Caractères juvéniles et affinités systématiques du crâne de Cynotherium sardous, canidé endémique pléistocène de Sardaigne. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, series 2, 310: 433-439.
Eisenman, Vera and van der Geer, Barth. (1999). The Cynotherium from Corbeddu (Sardinia): comparative biometry with extant and fossil canids. In: Reumer, J. W. F. and De Vos, J (eds.). Elephants have a snorkel! Papers in honour of Paul Sondaar. Deinsea 7: 147-168.
Gliozzi, E., Malatesta, A. and Palombo, M. R. (1984). Upper Pleistocene small mammal associations in the Is Oreris area (Iglesiente, SW Sardegna). Geologica Romana 23: 121-129. [a record of C. sardous from south-west Sardinia]
Holmes, Branden. (2021). What's Lost and What Remains: The Sixth Extinction in 100 Accounts (eBook). Self published.
Klein Hofmeijer, Gerard. (1997). Late Pleistocene deer fossils from Corbeddu Cave: Implications for human colonization of the island of Sardinia. British Archaeological Reports International Series, Vol. 663. Hadrian Books, London.
Lyras G., Van der Geer A. (2006). Adaptations of the Pleistocene island canid Cynotherium sardous (Sardinia, Italy) for hunting small prey. Cranium 23(1): 51-60.
Lyras, G.A.; Van Der Geer, A.E.; Rook, L. (2010). Body size of insular carnivores: evidence from the fossil record. Journal of Biogeography 37(6): 1007-1021.
Lyras, G.A.; Van Der Geer, A.E.; Dermitzakis, M.; De Vos, J. (2006). Cynotherium sardous, an insular canid (Mammalia: Carnivora) from the Pleistocene Of Sardinia (Italy), and its origin. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3): 735-745.
Major, F. C. I. (1877). Considerazioni sulla fauna dei mammiferi pliocenici e post-pliocenici della Toscana. Atti Soc. Tosc. Sci. Nat. Mem. 3: 207-227.
Malatesta, A. (1962). Il cane selvaggio del Pleistocene di sardegna. Geologica Romana 1: 173-189.
Malatesta, A. (1970). Cynotherium sardous Studiati, an extinct canid from the Pleistocene of Sardinia. Memorie dell’ Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana (Nuova Seria) 1: 1-72.
Pereira, E. and Salotti, M. (2002). Nouvelles donnèes sur le peuplement mammalien endèmique du Pléistocène de Corse. Mammalia 66(3): 423-438.
Ramis D and Alcover JA (2005). Holocene extinction of endemic mammals of the Mediterranean Islands: some methodological questions and an update. Monogra; es de la Societat d’Història Natural de les Balears 12, 309-318.
Turvey, Samuel T. (2009). In the shadow of the megafauna: prehistoric mammal and bird extinctions across the Holocene, pp. 17-39. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. New York: Oxford University Press.
Zedda, Marco, Brunetti, Antonio and Palombo, Maria Rita. (2022). First Attempt to Infer Sound Hearing and Its Paleoenvironmental Implications in the Extinct Insular Canid Cynotherium sardous Studiati, 1857 (Sardinia, Italy). Animals 12(7): 833. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12070833
Zoboli, Daniel, Pala, Alexandra et al. (2019). Pleistocene mammals from Sa Cona Cave (Teulada, south-western Sardinia, Italy). Journal of Mediterranean Earth Sciences 11. doi: doi: 10.3304/JMES.2019.002
Zoboli, Daniel and Pillola, Gian Luigi. (2017). Upper Pleistocene mammal assemblage from Su Concali Quarry (Samatzai, Southern Sardinia, Italy). Riv. It. Paleontol. Strat. 123(2): 243-254.