For years, scientists thought Africa's golden jackals to be the same as Eurasian golden jackals. Only one problem: the African ones turned out to not be jackals at all, The Huffington Post reports.
In a new DNA study published Thursday in Current Biology, researchers concluded that what they thought were jackals are actually African golden wolves, the first new species of canine found in Africa in 150 years, according to The Guardian.
Consider the two species distant cousins.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
Russian lunar spacecraft crashes into the moonSpeed Read
-
Hurricane Hilary bringing unprecedented storm warnings to Southwest
Speed Read
-
NASA fully restores contact with Voyager 2 spacecraft
Speed Read
-
The US just banned most incandescent light bulbs, and few people even noticed
Speed Read
-
NASA loses contact with Voyager 2 probe
Speed Read
-
20 dead and 27 missing after lethal downpour in Beijing
Speed Read
-
Biden keeps U.S. Space Command in Colorado, reversing Trump move to Alabama
Speed Read
-
Scientists revive 46,000-year-old worm that was frozen in permafrost
Speed Read
