An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c6.s4.2

v1.c6.s4.2

The following wild species of Canidae present in the subcontinent are immigrants from the n.: *Canis lupus*, the wolf; *Canis aureus*, the jackal; *Vulpes bengalensis*, the fox; and *Cuon alpinus*, the Indian wild dog. Reed, 1959, and Zeuner, 1963, hold that the Indian wolf is the probable ancestor of the domesticated dog because of the close morphological similarity, notably the dentition and complete interfertility between these species. Jackals also interbreed and have affinities with dogs; Prater, 1972, derives the ancestry of some dogs from jackals, but they differ significantly with respect to certain dental characters and chromosome numbers (Matthey, 1954).