We all know the famous saying about a Dingo eating a baby (and if you don’t, Google it). However, according to a brand new study done by Science Advances this past month, there is so so much more to a Dingo than just being thought of as a dangerous feral dog.
What exactly is a Dingo then? Is it a dog? Is it a wolf? Is it a cross-breed between the two?
Australia’s top predator has more layers to it than just looking a regular ole mutt (a cross between at the very lease, a couple of different breeds, to be exact).
What do you know about a Dingo? Let’s chat all about this in the comments!
Since the official extinction of the Tasmanian Devil last century in Australia, the Dingo has been Australia’s top predator.
There are a few different versions of how the Dingoes came to be. For one aspect of it all, some have been told that the lean, tan canines were brought to the continent 5,000 – 8,500 years ago, and were thought to be just yet another version of a dog, even though it seems near impossible to keep as a pet and tame all at the same time.
Here’s what part of the study, as previously mentioned from up above, has to say about some of their super cool findings about all of this:
"“The new research—a global collaboration involving 26 authors from 10 countries—compared the genome of a desert dingo named Sandy, who was rescued in 2014 along with her siblings—to those of five domestic dog breeds and the Greenland wolf.”"
And following up… here is this as well:
"“They found the dingo’s genome was structurally distinct from the boxer, German shepherd, basenji, Great Dane and Labrador retriever.”"
For the most part, while they do seem dangerous and technically are Australia’s most dangerous predator still, they really have nearly zero interest in humans at all.
In addition, much like wolves in North America, the Dingo is hated by farmers for allegedly running around and killing their livestock. According to a member of the research and study team named Ballard, Dingoes really just live on starchy diets, prey on marsupials that are small, such as a Koala, as well as not being able to digest higher-in-fats foods. Ballard eventually wants to test this all!
What do you make of a Dingo? What would you do if you came across one? Let’s chat down below! Remember as always…Woof, Woof, and make people know the truth of the Dingoes!