Jackals are canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to 3 species: the closely related black-backed jackal (Lupulella mesomelas) and side-striped jackal (Lupulella adusta) of Central and Southern Africa, and the golden jackal (Canis aureus) of south-central Europe and Asia. The African golden wolf (Canis lupaster) was also formerly considered a jackal. 2 known extinct jackal species are the Arno river dog (Canis arnensis) which lived in Europe during the Early Pleistocene and is considered a potential ancestor of modern jackals, and Eucyon khoikhoi, which lived in South Africa about 5.2 million years ago and is linked to the side-striped jackal.
While they don't form a monophyletic clade, all jackals are opportunistic omnivores, predators of small to medium-sized animals and proficient scavengers. Their long legs and curved canine teeth are adapted for hunting small mammals, birds, and reptiles; and their large feet and fused leg bones give them a physique well-suited for long-distance running, capable of maintaining speeds of 16 kilometers per hour (10 mph) for extended periods of time. Jackals are crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk.
Their most common social unit is a monogamous pair, which defends its territory from other pairs by vigorously chasing intruders and marking landmarks with bodily fluids around the territory, which may be large enough to hold some young adults that stay with their parents until they establish their own territories. Jackals may occasionally assemble in small packs to scavenge carcasses, but normally hunt either alone or in pairs.
History[]
The Lost World: Jurassic Park[]
- "I've worked around predators since I was 20. Lions, jackals, hyenas, you."
- —Sarah Harding([[|src]])
Sarah Harding had previous field experience observing various African predators which included lions, jackals, and hyenas. This was cited by John Hammond as the reason for her safety on the Isla Sorna Expedition, though her boyfriend Ian Malcolm disagreed.
Novels[]
Jurassic Park[]
Henry Wu explains that the Procompsognathus were in some sort the jackals of the Jurassic, being created for Jurassic Park to clean the corpses of dead animals.
The Lost World[]
Jackals were stated to wait with other small scavengers for the vultures and marabou storks, in turn waiting for big predators like lions and hyenas, to finish their meal before moving. While vultures and hyenas feed on bones, the jackals clean up the corpse.
