African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)
I’ll start off by saying that they are not kidding when they say every African wild dog has a unique pattern of black, white, and shades of tan. Unlike most species, there is no “typical” look. The only thing the majority of them have in common (coloration wise) is a mask, forehead stripe, and some amount of white on the tail. That’s it. It was EXTREMELY hard to pick out pictures for this. So here is a pack of sleeping dogs, instead of my usual “baseline” example I start off with. It seems like this pack leans towards the larger patches of black with fairly crisp borders. [x]
This handsome adult is the darkest I could find that I’m pretty confident didn’t just take a full body dip in mud (note the very clean tail). Nearly solid black in some areas, with some small patches of white contrasting against the surrounding fur, with much more subtle ticking of tan on it’s torso.[x]
A pattern I can best describe as dappled, the side of this animal is very similar to greying horses, a bit messy but with fairly distinct rings of black and tan coloration. [x]
Smokey, smudged brindling on this wild dog give it a softer, less high contrast look. [x]
Though the patterns of these guys are 100% unique, I found that the shape of the mask doesn’t vary as much . My heart skipped a beat when I saw this one with a raccoon dog face, the mask retreating on the sides of the snout making it look like it’s distant and much, much less social cousin. [x]
A handsome dog with round marking highlighting the eyes, not connecting to the black on the muzzle. [x]
Similar to 4, but this one’s face reminds me of dripping mascara, the tear marks get very narrow where they meet up with the rest of the mask. I’m not sure if it’s just the coloration, but it seems to have a blunter muzzle than most. Maybe it’s overweight? Elderly? [x]
High white forelimbs make a stunning background for the cluster of spots on this one’s shoulder. [x]
A youngster with a large area of white on it’s back, another shot here showing the extent of the white saddle. Most of the dogs with large areas of white tend to carry it on the sides or forelimbs, making this pup especially neat. It’s black markings are pretty dense, adding to the contrast. [x]
This image washes out some of the color from the head, but it does have a very light fur in that area. Combined with the medium amounts of white and markings made up almost entirely of tan splotches bordered with black (reminds me of rosettes in big cats), it makes this one seem to have a white base color, even though it isn’t doesn’t actually have the highest amount of white I’ve seen.[x]
Two mostly tan wild dogs, just a hint of black marbling, and both appear to only have white on their tails. [x]
A very unique individual, it has a diluted color, and possibly is leucistic. Like in domestic “blue” dogs, the mask and ears are very softly colored, and the markings on it’s body meant to be black are instead a light grey. Here is another shot of what looks to be the same (gorgeous) animal and more normal packmates. [x]
Flop eared wild dogs, like this sweet girl, have been recorded both in zoos and in the wild. Though it’s possible some get it from injury or mites, some pups in certain packs seem to develop them at a young age, so it’s potentially a genetic mutation. [x]
This is possibly the most interesting looking hairless canid I’ve ever seen, it and a few of it’s packmates have a severe case of mange. Whatever fur is left (the most I can see is inside the ears) is hidden by the mud it had apparently been enjoying, it’s torso very wrinkled so is probably mostly naked skin. I’ve read their skin is naturally dark blackish-grey, so even if it’s a bit muddy it’s not far off from it’s natural skin tone.[x]
kaledo-art
janainaart
snowghoul
germansingergirl
jbbartram-illu
