New Wolf Species in Africa

Conservationists in Egypt have discovered a new species of wolf, which shares DNA with Indian and Himalayan cousins. The "Egyptian jackal", as it's known, is not jackal at all, despite the visual similarities with the golden jackal. The discovery throws light on how wolf species migrated through Africa and Europe - proving that grey wolves emerged in Africa about three million years before they spread to the northern hemisphere.

As long ago as 1880 it had been noticed that the Egyptian jackal looked suspiciously like the grey wolf, and some biologists in the 20th century, studying skulls, made the same observation. However, the creature retained its name. Now, the difference has been formalised.

The investigation is published in the journal PLOS One, with author David Macdonald telling Wired.co.uk in an email: "A wolf in Africa is not only important conservation news, but raises fascinating biological questions about how the new African wolf evolved and lived alongside the real golden jackals."

Eli Rueness of the University of Oslo, who also contributed to the study, added: "We could hardly believe our own eyes when we found wolf DNA that did not match anything." However, the new species' DNA is quite similar to wolves found 2,500 kilometres away in the highlands of Ethiopia.

Professor Claudio Sillero, who has worked in Ethiopia for more than two decades, told Wired.co.uk: "This discovery contributes to our understanding of the biogeography of Afroalpine fauna, a group of species with African and Eurasian ancestry which evolved in the relative isolation of the highlands of the Horn of Africa. Rare Ethiopian wolves are themselves a recent immigrant to Africa, and separated from the grey wolf even earlier than the newly discovered African wolf."

By Duncan Geere in Wired.co.uk. Picture by www.muyinteresante.es.