The insertion point of the digastric muscle is widened in several canid taxa, forming a subangular lobe on the horizontal ramus of the mandible, which has been hypothesized to be a functional adaptation for rapid jaw movement. At least one species (the Falkland Island wolf, Dusicyon australis) has become extinct within the last 150 years (in 1876) as a result of direct human pressure.Ĭanids exhibit characteristic skull features, including the medial position of the internal carotid artery between the entotympanic and petrosal arteries, loss of the stapedial artery, and an inflated entotympanic bulla divided by a partial septum.

Persecution by humans, the introduction of diseases from domestic dogs, habitat disturbance, and hybridization with domestic or wild canids pose significant threats to the continued survival of many species. Many populations have been extirpated from portions of their historic range. latrans) exhibit extreme social flexibility, being capable of existing as solitary individuals, in pairs, or in large complex packs.Ī large proportion of the recognized wild canid species currently face the threat of extinction, 39 and numerous subspecies are at risk even when the species may be stable as a whole. Many smaller canids forage for prey alone, in pairs, or in small groups.

Large packs of some species make formidable and efficient units capable of preying on larger animals and fending off predators. Some species are solitary, some form monogamous or seasonally monogamous pairs, whereas others have large, complex packs of multiple generations within a social unit. Sexual dimorphism occurs in a majority of species, and males are typically larger. Individual species range in size from members of the Vulpes genus weighing 1 kilogram (kg) or less, to subspecies of the gray wolf exceeding 60 kg.

Species occur in desert environments, savannas, tropical and temperate forests, coastal areas, and arctic environments. Canids have diversified to inhabit a wide variety of habitat types. The red fox, which is present on five continents, and the gray wolf, present on three, span some of the largest geographic ranges of any terrestrial mammal. ‡Status reflects species as a whole the status of individual subspecies is at varying risks of extinction, and populations are not stable.Ĭanidae is one of the most geographically widespread carnivore families at least one wild species is present on each continent, except Antarctica.

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