The European dhole (''Cuon alpinus europaeus'') was a

paleosubspecies A chronospecies is a species derived from a sequential development pattern that involves continual and uniform changes from an extinct ancestral form on an evolutionary scale. The sequence of alterations eventually produces a population that is p ...

of the

dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

, which ranged throughout much of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

during the

Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

. Like the modern Asiatic populations, it was a more progressive form than other prehistoric members of the genus ''Cuon'', having transformed its lower molar tooth into a single cusped slicer. It was virtually indistinguishable from its modern counterpart, save for its greater size, which closely approached that of the

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

.Kurtén, Björn (1968), ''Pleistocene mammals of Europe'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, pp. 111-114

Lineage

''Cuon alpinus priscus'' Thenius 1954 was the first member of genus ''Cuon'' to be identified in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene. This was followed by ''Cuon alpinus fossilis'' Nehring 1890, then ''Cuon alpinus europaeus'' Bourguignat 1868 during the Middle and

. The descent is thought to be ''C. a. priscus→C. a. fossilis→C. a. europaeus''. In comparison, ''Cuon alpinus antiquus'' Colbert & Hooijer 1953 was active in the Middle Pleistocene of China, and ''Cuon alpinus caucasicus'' Baryshnikov 1996 was active in the Late Pleistocene of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. The European dhole became extinct in much of Europe during the late

Würm Wurm or Würm may refer to: Places * Wurm (Rur), a river in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany * Würm (Amper), a river in Bavaria, southeastern Germany ** Würm glaciation, an Alpine ice age, named after the Bavarian river * Würm (Nagold ...

period, though it may have survived in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

until the early

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

Competition

Between 650–450 thousand years ago in Europe, the open lands were dominated by '' Lycaon lycaonoides'', while ''Cuon alpinus priscus'' preferred forests, highlands, and mountains. The early small wolf '' Canis mosbachensis'' coexisted in all of these environments. Between 480–430 thousand years ago the number and range of ''L. lycaonoides'' began to fall, and it became extinct across Eurasia between 450– 400 thousand years ago. Between 400–300 thousand years ago, the dhole and the wolf were still similar in size, but the wolf was slowly getting bigger. Between 300–250 thousand years ago, the wolf took over the dominant niche which had once been occupied by ''L. lycaonoides''. Due to competition with the wolf, ''C. alpinus'' then decreased in body size and adapted to hunting and living in forests, highlands, and mountains. The European dhole is known directly to have interacted with humans in the Iberian Peninsula. Evidence for this comes from symbolically arranged bones from a

Gravettian The Gravettian is an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years BP. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by ...

site in

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18926249 Pleistocene carnivorans Pleistocene extinctions Prehistoric canines Prehistoric mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1868 Canines