New Guinea Singing Dog 1800993 224941999 2008-07-11T02:57:03Z Vortex Dragon 1380260 /* External links */ {{Taxobox | name = New Guinea Singing Dog | status = VU | trend = down | status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{IUCN2006|assessors=Corbett|year=2004|id=41585|title=Canis lupus ssp. dingo|downloaded=2007-01-06}} IUCN groups the Singer with the Dingo. </ref> | image = New Guinea Singing Dog profile.jpg | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Mammal]]ia | ordo = [[Carnivora]] | familia = [[Canidae]] | genus = ''[[Canis]]'' | species = ''[[Canis lupus|C. lupus]]'' | subspecies = ''C. lupus dingo'' | trinomial = ''Canis lupus dingo'' | trinomial_authority = (Meyer, 1793) }} The '''New Guinea Singing Dog''' (''Canis lupus dingo''), known as '''NGSD''', '''New Guinea Highland Dog''', or '''Singer''', is a [[Dog type|type]] of [[Domestic Dog|domestic dog]] that is native to [[New Guinea]], classified as a [[Subspecies of Canis Lupus|subspecies of ''Canis lupus'']] and related to the Australian [[Dingo]]. Singers have remained isolated from other dogs for almost 6000 years,<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the New Guinea Singing Dog |url=http://www.canineworld.com/ngsdcs/history.html |publisher=New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society |accessdate=2005-06-04}}</ref> making them possibly the oldest of the [[pariah dog]]s. Once thought to inhabit the entire island of New Guinea, today wild populations are thought to be extinct,{{Fact|date=February 2007}} with captive specimens numbering from 100 to 200.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} They are exceptionally intelligent, but hard to keep because of wild behavioural traits. There is some debate{{Fact|date=May 2008}} as to whether Singers are truly [[domesticated animals]], though with proper training, their pack-instincts may allow them to live with humans. They are recognized as a breed by the [[United Kennel Club]], which places them in the Sighthound & Pariah Group. New Guinea Singing Dogs are unique in their ability to howl in a [[wolf]]-like manner, but unlike wolves, Singers modulate the pitch, hence the name. ==Physical description== They have a [[fox]]-like appearance, with a [[double coat]] that ranges in color from red to brown, and have a characteristically large [[carnassial]] [[tooth]]. They stand between 14 and 18 [[inch]]es (36 to 46 cm) at the [[shoulders]], and weigh 17 to 30 [[pound (mass)|pound]]s (8 to 14 [[kilogram|kg]]) as adults. They have proportionately short legs and large heads compared to other [[canis]]. They are shorter in height at the [[withers]] than dingoes.<!-- Arabian wolves are a completely different subspecies, Canis lupus arabs; no application here --> Their skulls are slightly wider than a dingo's skull. <!--golden jackals are not even Canis lupus; no relevance here-->.<ref>''Journal of Zoology'' Volume 261, Part 2, October 2003</ref> [[Image:New Guinea Singing Dog is singing.jpg|thumb|left|A Singer, singing.]] ==History and study== In the 1950s, Sir Edward Halistrom brought the first pair out of the Southern Highlands District of [[Papua New Guinea]] to the [[Taronga Zoo]] in [[Sydney]], Australia, and it was first classified from those specimens as a distinct species, ''Canis hallstromi'' (Troughton, 1957). Currently the NGSD is classified as a domestic dog subspecies of Canis lupus, ''Canis lupus dingo''.<ref>Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (editors). 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), Johns Hopkins University Press</ref> The New Guinea Singing Dog has never been studied in the wild and virtually nothing is known concerning its behavior, social organization or general natural history under free-ranging conditions; and as of 2004, there were less than 50 specimens (all highly inbred) in the documented NGSD captive breeding population.<ref>Abstract of article "THE NEW GUINEA SINGING (WILD) DOG" http://abstracts.co.allenpress.com/pweb/asm2004/document/38760</ref> Most of the NGSD in North America have descended from the original Taronga Zoo pair; in 1976 five were brought from [[Irian Jaya]] to the Domestic Animal Institute in Keil, Germany. No others have been captured from the wild.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.canineworld.com/ngsdcs/history.html |title= History of the New Guinea Singing Dog |accessmonthday= 05/12 |accessyear= 2008 |author= New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society |work= |quote= }}</ref> In general, NGSD show all the behaviors described for other ''Canis'' species, with the exception of the "play bow" typical to most canids but not seen in the NGSD. <ref>{{cite web |coauthors=J. Koler-Matznick, I. L. Brisbin, Jr., M. Feinstein, S. Bulmer |title=An Updated description of the New Guinea Singing Dog |url=http://www.canineworld.com/ngsdcs/CanishallstromiNewGuineaSingingDog.pdf |work= J. Zool, Lond. (2003)|pages=pg 5|doi= 10.1017/S0952836903004060}}</ref> Captive populations (the only ones studied) do not form packs, and wild sightings are of single dogs or pairs. They have a distinctive howl, and emit a "trill", described as similar to a sound made by the [[Dhole]] ([[Cuon alpinus]].)<ref>ibid. pg 6 </ref> The Kalam people of the Papuan Highlands capture pups and raise them as pets and hunting dogs, but do not breed the NGSDs. Wild dogs (not village dogs) are sometimes eaten. <ref>ibid. pg 7 </ref> The taxonomy of the NGSD continues to be investigated. Naming systems are not random, but agreed upon internationally. As new information becomes available, naming may change. The United Kennel Club began registering them as a dog breed in January 1996, in the Sighthounds & Pariah Group. The American Rare Breed Association also registers them as a dog breed, in their Spitz & Primitive Group. ==References== <!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref> and </ref> tags and the tag below --> {{refs}} ==See also== {{cite news |coauthors=Koler-Matznick, J., B. C. Yates, S. Bulmer, and I. L. Brisbin, Jr. |title=The New Guinea Singing Dog: Its Status and Scientific Importance|work=Australian Mammalogy 29: 47-56 }} == External links == {{commons|New Guinea Singing Dog|New Guinea Singing Dog}} *[http://www.newguinea-singing-dog-conservation.org/ New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society] *[http://www.canineworld.com/PADS/ Primitive and Aboriginal Dog Society] [[Category:Dog breeds]] [[Category:Dog types]] [[Category:Mammals of New Guinea]] [[de:Neuguinea-Dingo]] [[es:Canis hallstromi]] [[fr:Chien chanteur]] [[no:Ny-Guinea syngehund]] [[pl:Śpiewający pies z Nowej Gwinei]] [[ru:Новогвинейская поющая собака]]