Cubacyon transversidens (Cuban Dhole)

[another specialist]

Genus Cubacyon
Cuban Dhole, Cubacyon transversidens †

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canidae

[another specialist]

Then there are the two endemic, recently extinct Cuban canids: Cubacyon transversidens Arredondo & Varona, 1974 and Indocyon caribensis Arredondo, 1981 [UPDATE: make sure you read the comments!!]. Cubacyon is poorly known and was described on the basis of a partial lower jaw (Arredondo & Varona 1974). Indocyon was first collected in 1956 but not named as a new species until 1981 (Arredondo 1981a): it was originally named Paracyon caribensis but Paracyon was used by Gray for the thylacine in 1827, so Arredondo (1981b) then coined the new generic name Indocyon. In contrast to Cubacyon, Indocyon is known from numerous specimens, but virtually all are lower jaw fragments. In fact we know very little about these canids: their jaw bones suggest that they were small, fox-sized forms (McKenna & Bell (1997) regarded both taxa as part of Canis), but their origins and extinction dates are mysterious. They're both missing from various works on the extinct mammal fauna of Cuba, and from papers that discuss recently extinct island endemic carnivorans (Alcover & McMinn 1994). Presumably these canids were contemporaneous with Cuba's fantastic fauna of giant rodents, diverse sloths, giant owls and huge, remarkable raptors. And what's that you say? Giant raptors?

scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/12/cuban_canids_darwins_fox.php

[extinct8]

Does anyone know when the two Caribbean dogs (Indocyon and Cubacyon) became extinct? Was it pre-1500 AD? Thanks!

[another specialist]

May 2, 2008 13:56:01 GMT extinct8 said:

Does anyone know when the two Caribbean dogs (Indocyon and Cubacyon) became extinct? Was it pre-1500 AD? Thanks!

This carnivorous avifauna inhabited the Antilles because of the absence of great carnivorous mammals that controlled the population of herbivorous mamals (rodents, monkeys, edentates). The Indian mute dog (Indocyon caribensis) arrived to the Antilles at the end of Pleistocene or even in the Holocene.
There are also a large number of new, extinct species, belonging to other orders O. Arredondo is working on them, together with his son Carlos and Dr. W. Suarez, and hopes that this work will be finished in a near future.

www2.nrm.se/ve/birds/sape/sapenews12.html.en

[Deleted]

Cubacyon transversidens and Indocyon caribensis seem to be synonyms for Canis familiaris.

source:

Marjorie M. Condis; Osvaldo Jiménez; Fernando Balseiro: 'Mamiferos del Registro Fósil y Asociados a Sitios Arqueológicas de Cuba (Terciaria y Cuaternario)' (2007)

[another specialist]

Dec 7, 2008 13:45:05 GMT @noisi said:

Cubacyon transversidens and Indocyon caribensis seem to be synonyms for Canis familiaris.

source:

Marjorie M. Condis; Osvaldo Jiménez; Fernando Balseiro: 'Mamiferos del Registro Fósil y Asociados a Sitios Arqueológicas de Cuba (Terciaria y Cuaternario)' (2007)

The "mute dog" of the Taíno of Hispaniola and perhaps other islands could deserve an article Taíno Dog. Some claimed it to be a raccoon, but the Taíno were pretty obviously depicting them as dogs. I don't know whether material evidence exists; it is extremely hard to come across any good sources, sources that don't just mention their existence. Dysmorodrepanis 09:23, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Cubacyon transversidens may be a junior synonym of the Taíno dog - or indeed the correct scientific name. I don't think enough is known about the Taíno animals to unequivocally state that they were indeed the same species as our dogs. Dysmorodrepanis 14:38, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Cryptozoology

[surroundx]

blogs.dogtime.com/retrievermans-weblog/2010/08/those-extinct-cuban-canines

[Sebbe]

Updated checklist of endemic terrestrial mammals of the West Indies

The existence of endemic carnivores in the West
Indies has been debated for many years. Two
species have been described in Cuba: Cubacyon
transversidens Arredondo and Varona, 1974, from
Cueva del Túnel, La Salud, Habana (the single type
material has been lost from the collection) and
Indocyon caribensis (Arredondo 1981), from Cueva
de Bélica, Güirabo, Holguín originally described as
Paracyon caribensis (Arredondo 1981a), generic
preoccupied and later corrected (Arredondo 1981b).
The latter taxon is frequently found in burial remains
throughout Cuba. Dog remains in the West Indies
are known from burial sites of the Dominican
Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Barbados and
the Bahamas (Lawrence 1977; Wing 1991; Wing,
this volume) and are sporadically found in Caicos,
the Lesser Antilles (Martinique, Anguilla, Antigua)
and the Virgin Islands (see Wing, this volume). The
first European chroniclers documented the presence
of mute dogs in the life of Antillean aborigines. However, the validity of these two species has been
questioned and frequently they are synonymized as
Canis lupus familiaris (Morgan and Woods 1986).
Domestic dogs are known to be highly variable in
size and morphology. However, more recently a
fossil hair preserved in amber from the Dominican
Republic has been attributed to a carnivore (Poinar
and Poinar 1999), indicating that the possible
presence of West Indian endemic carnivores must be
reconsidered.

www.researchgate.net/publication/273831338_UPDATED_CHECKLIST_OF_ENDEMIC_TERRESTRIAL_MAMMALS_OF_THE_WEST_INDIES