PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Cuon (dhole)

Mammalia - Carnivora - Canidae

Taxonomy

Cuon was named by Hodgson (1838). It is extant.

It was assigned to Canina by Wang et al. (2008), Tedford et al. (2009); and to Canidae by Hodgson (1838), Bourguignat (1875), Kurten (1968), van Gelder (1978), Kurten and Anderson (1980), Carroll (1988), Wilson and Reeder (2005), Mecozzi et al. (2020).

Species

C. alpinus, C. bourreti, C. dukhunensis, C. majori, C. priscus, C. sumatrensis, Cyon antiquus

Species lacking formal opinion data

C. javanicus

Synonyms

Cyon was named by Agassiz (1846).

It was synonymized objectively with Cuon by Wilson and Reeder (2005).

It was assigned to Canidae by Barbour (1914).
Chrysaeus was named by Smith (1839).

It was synonymized subjectively with Cuon by Tedford et al. (2009).
Primaevus was named by Gray (1843).

It was synonymized subjectively with Cuon by Tedford et al. (2009).
Anurocyon was named by Heude (1888).

It was synonymized subjectively with Cuon by Tedford et al. (2009).
Crassicuon was named by Kretzoi (1941).

It was synonymized subjectively with Cuon by Tedford et al. (2009).
Semicuon was named by Kretzoi (1941).

It was synonymized subjectively with Cuon by Tedford et al. (2009).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1838	Cuon Hodgson
1839	Chrysaeus Smith p. 167
1843	Primaevus Gray
1846	Cyon Agassiz
1875	Cuon Bourguignat
1888	Anurocyon Heude p. 102
1914	Cyon Barbour p. 190
1941	Crassicuon Kretzoi p. 118
1941	Semicuon Kretzoi p. 119
1968	Cuon Kurten p. 111
1978	Cuon van Gelder
1980	Cuon Kurten and Anderson p. 172
1988	Cuon Carroll
2005	Cuon Wilson and Reeder
2008	Cuon Wang et al.
2009	Cuon Tedford et al. p. 157
2020	Cuon Mecozzi et al.

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()

Rank	Name	Author
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Ferae	()
—	Carnivoramorpha	Wyss and Flynn 1993
—	Carnivoraformes	Flynn et al.
order	Carnivora
family	Canidae
genus	Cuon	Hodgson 1838

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Cuon Hodgson 1838 [dhole]

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Cuon alpinus Pallas 1811 [dhole]

†Cuon alpinus europaeus Bourguignat 1875

†Cuon bourreti Harlé 1891

†Cuon dukhunensis Sykes 1831

†Cuon majori Del Campana 1913

†Cuon priscus Thenius 1954

†Cuon sumatrensis Hardwicke 1822

Invalid names: Anurocyon Heude 1888 [synonym], Chrysaeus Smith 1839 [synonym], Crassicuon Kretzoi 1941 [synonym], Cyon Agassiz 1846 [objective synonym], Primaevus Gray 1843 [synonym], Semicuon Kretzoi 1941 [synonym]

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
R. H. Tedford et al. 2009	The osteological differentiation of species of Cuon from those of Xenocyon, and the morphologically related Lycaon pictus, lies principally in the extreme hyper- carnivory of Cuon spp.: loss of m3; reduction of m2 to single or poorly differentiated double-rooted condition with further simpli- fication of crown involving great reduction and loss of metaconid so that it resembles m3 of other canines; loss of m1 entoconid and any remnant of the cristid connecting it with hypoconid, and further reduction of metaco- nid to very small size and loss (usually as individual variation in Cuon populations); anterior premolars also with prominent, high- crowned principal cusps, p2 and p3 usually with posterior cusp; large p4 whose principal cusp is as high or higher than m1 paraconid, and presence of shelflike anterior cingulum that may be produced into anterior cusp; M1 lacking hypocone, although there may be remnant of posterolingual cingulum; M2 very reduced, but retaining tribosphenic form.