It has been suggested that tanuki be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

This article deals with the wild animal; see tanuki for this animal in folklore and popular culture.

iRaccoon Dog
Two raccoon dogs
Conservation status
Least Concern (LC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Canidae Genus: Nyctereutes Temminck, 1839 Species: N. procyonoides
Binomial name
Nyctereutes procyonoides (Gray, 1834)

The Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides "nycto-" = Gr. "night," "ereutes" = Gr. "wanderer," "procyon" = "raccoon," "-oides" = Gr. "-oid") is a member of the canidae family (which includes dogs, wolves, and foxes) and is indigenous to east Asia. It is not a true dog, and is the only species in its genus Nyctereutes. It is named for its superficial resemblance to the non-canidae raccoon. The animal carries historical and cultural significance in Japan, and is also known under the Japanese name tanuki. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... Pottery statue of tanuki This article deals with tanuki in folklore; see Raccoon Dog for more information on the wild animal. ... Pottery statue of tanuki This article deals with tanuki in folklore; see Raccoon Dog for more information on the wild animal. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (960x540, 209 KB)Copied from the Japanese Wikipedia @ http://ja. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to species or lower taxa which do not qualify for any other category. ... 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 Ectoprocta Bryozoa... {{{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) Volaticotheria (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... 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. ... Coenraad Jacob Temminck (March 31, 1778 - January 30, 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat and zoologist. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... John Edward Gray. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... 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. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a taxonomic grouping. ... Type Species Procyon lotor Linnaeus, 1758 Species Procyon cancrivorus Procyon insularis Procyon lotor Raccoons are nocturnal mammals in the genus Procyon of the Procyonidae family. ... Pottery statue of tanuki This article deals with tanuki in folklore; see Raccoon Dog for more information on the wild animal. ...

Raccoon Dogs are native to Japan, southeastern Siberia, and Manchuria but now range as far as Scandinavia and France; in 2005, sightings were reported in Italy as well. Average adult head and body length is about 65 cm (2 ft) and weight ranges from 4 to 10 kg (9 to 22 lb). Average litters consist of 5 pups. Longevity is 3–4 years in the wild and 11 years in captivity. They are found in both plains and mountainous regions and are especially common in woodlands. Raccoon Dogs are commonly seen near villages and in rural areas. Siberian Federal District (darker red) and the broadest definition of Siberia (red) Udachnaya pipe Siberia (Russian: , Sibir; Tatar: ) is a vast region of Russia constituting almost all of Northern Asia. ... Manchuria (Manchu: Manju; Traditional Chinese: 滿洲; Simplified Chinese: 满洲; pinyin: MÇŽnzhōu, Russian: ) is a vast territorial region in northeast Asia. ... Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ... A village is a human residential settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... Rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China Rural areas (also referred to as the country, countryside) are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities. ...

Like many other canines, they are omnivorous. However, their diets are atypically diverse, consisting of invertebrates, frogs, lizards, rodents and birds along with seeds and berries. Those living near the ocean will also eat crabs and scavenged marine life. Invertebrate is a term coined by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck to describe any animal without a spinal column. ... Distribution of frogs (in black) Suborders Archaeobatrachia Mesobatrachia Neobatrachia - List of Anuran families The frog is an amphibian in the order Anura (meaning tail-less from Greek an-, without + oura, tail). ... Families Many, see text. ... Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... A ripe red jalapeño cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ... Several types of berries from the market. ... Superfamilies Dromiacea Homolodromioidea Dromioidea Homoloidea Eubrachyura Raninoidea Cyclodorippoidea Dorippoidea Calappoidea Leucosioidea Majoidea Hymenosomatoidea Parthenopoidea Retroplumoidea Cancroidea Portunoidea Bythograeoidea Xanthoidea Bellioidea Potamoidea Pseudothelphusoidea Gecarcinucoidea Cryptochiroidea Pinnotheroidea * Ocypodoidea * Grapsoidea * An asterisk (*) marks the crabs included in the clade Thoracotremata. ...

Raccoon Dog populations have declined in recent years due to hunting, urbanization, an increase of animals associated with human civilization such as pets and abandoned animals, and diseases that may be transmitted between them. They are also killed for their fur in China. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Cities are a major hallmark of human civilization. ... Pets and humans often contribute toward the happiness of the other in a pet relationship. ... A disease or medical condition is an abnormality of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, distress, or death to the person afflicted or those in contact with the person. ... In medicine, transmission is the passing of a disease from an infected individual or group to a previously uninfected individual or group. ...

Raccoon Dogs are secretive and not very aggressive; they prefer to hide or scream rather than fight, and play dead to avoid predators. They are monogamous; some fights occur between males for the females. Mating season begins when the tanuki emerge from their burrows. The female is in heat for about six days. The baculum tie in coitus lasts about six minutes, shorter than other canids. When the cubs are born after a gestation of about 60 days, the male will assist in cub-rearing, first by providing food to his mate and then also for the cubs when they are weaned, about 50 days after birth. The young are physically and sexually mature after one year. Monogamy is the custom or condition of having only one mate during a period of time. ... The baculum (also penis bone, penile bone or os penis) is a bone found in the penis of most mammals including canidae and felidae. ...

The Raccoon Dog is a unique member of the canid family as it is the only member to go into torpor through the winter months. It is also unique in that its curved claws enable it to climb trees; the only other member of the canid family with this ability is the gray fox. It does not bark and it turns its tail into an inverted U to express dominance. The brain of the tanuki is poorly developed compared to dogs and wolves and its teeth are small. Torpor is a state of regulated hypothermia in an endotherm lasting just a few hours. ... Binomial name Urocyon cinereoargenteus (Schreber, 1775) The Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) is a species of fox ranging from southern Canada, throughout most of the lower United States and Central America, to Venezuela. ...

There is some debate in the scientific community regarding speciation between the Siberian subspecies (N. p. ussuriensis), Chinese subspecies (N. p. procyonoides) and the Japanese Raccoon Dog subspecies (N. p. viverrinus) in that due to chromosome[1], behavioral and weight differences, the Japanese Raccoon Dog should be considered a separate species from the two other subspecies. Charles Darwins first sketch of an evolutionary tree from his First Notebook on Transmutation of Species (1837) Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. ... Figure 1: A representation of a condensed eukaryotic chromosome, as seen during cell division. ... For the Pet Shop Boys album of the same name see Behaviour Behavior or behaviour (see spelling differences) refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. ...

Sean John Controversy

On December 22, 2006, fur-hooded jackets made by the Sean John clothing company were pulled off the shelves of Macy's Department Stores when the nation’s largest animal protection organization concluded that the garments were actually made from raccoon dog. Previously advertised as a faux fur product, they were later identified. Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, added that the issue is an “industry-wide problem” and its investigation demonstrated that retailers and designers “aren’t paying close enough attention to the fur trim they are selling.” He added that the issue is especially problematic when “the fur is sourced from China, where domestic dogs and cats and raccoon dogs are killed in gruesome ways.” [2]

References

• Sillero-Zubiri & Hoffmann (2004). Nyctereutes procyonoides. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Nyctereutes procyonoides (TSN 183821). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 23 March 2006.
• The character Hachiemon from the popular T.V series InuYasha.
• ¹http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061222/ap_on_bi_ge/macy_s_dog_fur_1
• Article: "Sean John jackets were made with dog fur", 22 December 2006, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16329355/?GT1=8816 .

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. ... Please note that the ITIS system URL has changed (25 September 2006). ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hachi as seen in the anime series. ... InuYasha ), full title InuYasha, A Feudal Fairy Tale ), is a popular Japanese shōnen adventure romantic comedy manga created by Rumiko Takahashi. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Raccoon Dog

• World Conservation Union - article on raccoon dogs
• America Zoo - basic info, one image
• Lioncrusher's Domain - detailed information, image
• canids.org - technical and conservation information
• Lauri Sippu's page - many images
• BBC - very basic information with images
• Animal Planet - basic information, image
• Foundation TV's "Brilliant Creatures" - a pair of on-camera raccoon dogs
• Nyctereutes abdeslami - information on another extinct species of its genus