iBush Dog
A Bush Dog in the zoo of Stuttgart, Germany. Photo by R. Schmode.
Conservation status
Vulnerable (VU)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Canidae Genus: Speothos Species: S. venaticus
Binomial name
Speothos venaticus (Lund, 1842)

The Bush Dog (Speothos venaticus) is a canid found in Central and South America, including Panama, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru (West of the Andes), Ecuador, the Guianas, Paraguay, northeast Argentina (Misiones province), and Brazil (from the Amazon rainforest to the state of Amazonas). In spite of its extensive range, it is very rare; it was originally discovered as fossils in Brazilian caves and thought to be extinct. It is the only species in its genus, Speothos. Download high resolution version (600x789, 236 KB)A Bush Dog, from [1]. Photo by R. Schmode. ... Stuttgart [], located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 (as of September 2005) in the city and around 3 million in the metropolitan area. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... A vulnerable species is one whose chances of extinction characterize it as threatened but not quite as endangered. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera Subregnum Eumetazoa Placozoa Orthonectida Rhombozoa Radiata (unranked) Ctenophora Cnidaria Bilateria (unranked) Acoelomorpha Myxozoa Superphylum Deuterostomia Chordata Hemichordata Echinodermata Chaetognatha Xenoturbellida Superphylum Ecdysozoa Kinorhyncha Loricifera Priapulida Nematoda Nematomorpha Onychophora Tardigrada Arthropoda Superphylum Platyzoa Platyhelminthes Gastrotricha Rotifera Acanthocephala Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Cycliophora Superphylum Lophotrochozoa Sipuncula Nemertea Phoronida Bryozoa Entoprocta... {{{subdivision_ranks}}} See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Orders Multituberculata (extinct) Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Australosphenida Ausktribosphenida Monotremata Subclass Eutheria (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Anagaloidea (extinct) Arctostylopida (extinct) Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Cingulata Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Dinocerata (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Leptictida (extinct) Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata... Families 17, See classification The diverse and interesting order Carnivora IPA: (from Latin carō (stem carn-) flesh, + vorāre to devour) includes over 260 placental mammals. ... Genera Alopex Atelocynus Canis Cerdocyon Chrysocyon Cuon Dusicyon Fennecus Lycalopex Lycaon Nyctereutes Otocyon Pseudalopex Speothos Urocyon Vulpes Canidae is the family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals commonly known as canines. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Peter Wilhelm Lund (1801 - 1880) was a Danish zoologist and paleontologist. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Genera Alopex Atelocynus Canis Cerdocyon Chrysocyon Cuon Dusicyon Fennecus Lycalopex Lycaon Nyctereutes Otocyon Pseudalopex Speothos Urocyon Vulpes Canidae is the family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals commonly known as canines. ... Map of Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... The Andes form the longest mountain chain in the world. ... The term Guianas refers to an area comprising three different countries in the north-eastern part of South America; Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. ... Ordinal directions are the four compass directions: northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest, located halfway between the cardinal directions. ... Misiones is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. ... River in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. ... An ammonite fossil Eocene fossil fish of the genus Knightia Petrified wood fossil formed through permineralization. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a taxonomic grouping. ...

In Brazil it is called cachorro-vinagre ("Vinegar Dog") or cachorro-do-mato ("Bush Dog"). In Spanish-speaking countries it is called perro vinagre, zorro vinagre ("Vinegar Fox"), perro de agua ("Water Dog"), or perro de monte ("Mountain Dog").

The Bush Dog has soft long brownish-tan fur, with a lighter reddish tinge on the head, neck and back and a bushy tail. The underside is dark, sometimes with a lighter throat patch. Adults typically have 55–75 cm of head and body, plus 13 cm of tail, and weigh 5–7 kg. Legs and snout are short relative to body length: the typical height is only 25–30 cm.

It is a carnivore and hunts during the day, preferably in wet savannahs and tropical and equatorial forests. Its typical prey is the Paca (Agouti paca), a large rodent. Although it can hunt alone on occasion, the Bush Dog is usually found in small packs of up to 10–12 individuals, which can bring down much larger prey. It may be the most gregarious among South American canid species. It is a good swimmer (thanks to its webbed feet). It uses hollow logs and cavities (e.g. Armadillo burrows) for shelter. Binomial name Agouti paca (Linnaeus, 1766) The Paca (Agouti paca) is a large rodent found in tropical and sub-tropical America, from East-Central Mexico to Paraguay. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Genera Dasypus Calyptophractus Chaetophractus Chlamyphorus Euphractus Zaedyus Cabassous Priodontes Tolypeutes Glyptodontidae (extinct) Armadillos are small placental mammals of the family Dasypodidae, known for having a bony armor shell. ...

The gestation period is 63 days, and a litter can have up to six dark grey pups. Lactation lasts approximately 8 weeks. The Bush Dog is sexually mature at 1 year and lives for about 10 years.

There are three subspecies: In zoology, as in other branches of biology, subspecies is the rank immediately subordinate to a species. ...

• Speothos venaticus panamensis (Panama)
• Speothos venaticus venaticus (Ecuador and Colombia (west of the Andes), Northern Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, Northern and Central Brazil and endangerd in Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina)
• Speothos venaticus wingei (Southeast Brazil)

The Andes form the longest mountain chain in the world. ...

See also

• Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), one of its closest relatives.

Binomial name Chrysocyon brachyurus (Illiger, 1815) The Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the largest canid of South America, resembling a dog with reddish fur. ...

References

• Sillero-Zubiri & Hoffmann (2004). Speothos venaticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External links

• ARKive - images and movies of the bush dog (Speothos venaticus)
• Detailed Speothos Venaticus PDF article at the Canid Specialist Group (CSG) site (2004).
• An earlier HTML version by the CSG Action Plan for the Conservation of Canids (1990).
• Another webpage at Animal Diversity Web
• ITIS database
• Skeletal morphology data from UT Austin
• From Lioncrusher's domain – carnivore info.
• Cachorro-do-mato-vinagre (In Portuguese)
• Cachorro-vinagre (In Portuguese)

Bibliography

• Nicole Duplaix and Noel Simon, World Guide to Mammals. Mandarin Publishers Ltd (1976).