NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Argentinian Warrah
Dusicyon avus (Burmeister, 1866)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Dusicyon avus life reconstruction.
Juandertal · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Dusicyon avus is an extinct species of canid native to South America during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. It was medium to large, about the size of a German Shepherd. It was closely related to the Falkland Islands wolf (Dusicyon australis), which descended from a population of D. avus. It appears to have survived until very recently, perhaps 400 years ago.
Dusicyon avus was around the size of a coyote, and was morphologically similar to jackals, suggesting a niche similar to both.
Wikipedia contributors, Dusicyon avus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:51:23.904036+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dusicyon avus (Burmeister, 1866)
- Name authority
- (Burmeister, 1866)
- Common name
- Argentinian Warrah
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Canidae
- Genus
- Dusicyon
- Extinction status
- Recorded extinct
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderCarnivora Bowdich, 1821
- suborderCaniformia Kretzoi, 1938
- familyCanidae G. Fischer von Waldheim, 1817
- genusDusicyon C. E. H. Smith, 1839
- speciesDusicyon avus (Burmeister, 1866)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dusicyon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Falkland Island wolfDusicyon australis (Kerr, 1792) | CanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Canis avus Burmeister, 1866 Burmeister, 1866 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1271672 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:NSKRC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.