---
title: "What the sources say about the Dingo | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "59 claims from the Dingo profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/dingo-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dingo/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Dingo (*Canis familiaris*)

> 59 claims from the Dingo profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Dingo](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dingo/)

## Dingo. Australian Museum.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/dingo/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Canis lupus, the grey wolf | Domestic dogs are descended from the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus). (note: body and FAQ 1; the museum's naming of Canis lupus) |
| The Australian Museum's factsheet, updated in 2026, goes further and lists the dingo as a breed | Scientific name: Canis familiaris (breed Dingo) Author(s) Sue Burrell, Dr Mark Eldridge Updated 26/05/26 (note: 'updated in 2026' is the page's own 'Updated 26/05/26'; dates the museum's position) |
| the Australian Museum's factsheet calls it a breed of domestic dog | It is an ancient breed of domestic dog that was introduced to Australia (note: FAQ 1) |
| An adult dingo stands 44 to 62 cm at the shoulder, weighs 12 to 24 kg | Shoulder height: 440-620mm, Body length: 860-1230mm, Tail: 260-380mm, Body mass: 12-24kg. (note: 440-620mm converted to 44-62cm; the page's 'Size Range' is the grown animal's (pups are 'fully grown by seven months of age')) |
| can live for up to 10 years | adult Dingoes can live for up to 10 years |
| which rarely barks: it howls to call its pack and marks its territory with scent | Dingoes rarely bark. They howl, particularly at night in an effort to attract pack members or to ward off intruders. Other forms of communication include scent-rubbing, defecating and urinating on objects to mark territorial boundaries. (note: tagline) |
| A wide range of habitats on mainland Australia, from desert to its preferred woodland and grassland near forest edges, limited only by access to water | in the desert areas, the fur is more golden yellow ... Dingoes can live in a wide range of habitats found on the Australian mainland. Their preference is woodland and grassland areas that extend to the edge of forests. They are only limited by access to viable water sources. (note: stats.habitat; 'desert' from the same page's coat-colour section) |
| It never reached Tasmania, and is now mostly absent from many parts of the south-east | Dingoes inhabited many parts of mainland Australia but never reached Tasmania. After European colonisation and the growth of pastoralisation, there was a concerted effort to remove Dingoes from farming areas. As a result, Dingoes are mostly absent from many parts of New South Wales, Victoria, the south-eastern third of South Australia (note: stats.habitat; current page (updated 26/05/26)) |
| Mostly mammals, especially rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats; farm livestock when native prey is scarce, and failing that reptiles, birds, insects and whatever else it can find | Mammals form the main part of their diet especially rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats . When native species are scarce they will hunt domestic animals and farm livestock. ... Failing this, the Dingo will eat reptiles and any food source it can find including insects and birds . (note: stats.diet, in the source's order) |
| Rarely barks. It howls to call its pack together or warn off intruders, and marks the edges of its territory with scent: rubbing, urinating and defecating on objects | Dingoes rarely bark. They howl, particularly at night in an effort to attract pack members or to ward off intruders. Other forms of communication include scent-rubbing, defecating and urinating on objects to mark territorial boundaries. (note: stats.superpower) |
| A dingo's diet is built around mammals, especially rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats | Mammals form the main part of their diet especially rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats . |
| When native species are scarce, it will hunt domestic animals and farm livestock, and failing that, it eats reptiles, insects, birds and any other food it can find | When native species are scarce they will hunt domestic animals and farm livestock. ... Failing this, the Dingo will eat reptiles and any food source it can find including insects and birds . |
| It scavenges at night and hunts alone, but forms larger packs to hunt bigger game | Scavenging at night, the Dingo is a solitary hunter but will form larger packs when hunting bigger game. |
| Dingoes are also thought to have contributed to the extinction of the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, on the Australian mainland, by competing with it for food | It is thought that the Dingo contributed to the extinction of mainland Thylacines (Tasmanian Tiger) by becoming competition for the available food sources. |
| A Territory Marked in Scent | Other forms of communication include scent-rubbing, defecating and urinating on objects to mark territorial boundaries. (note: heading) |
| A dingo occupies a clearly defined territory it leaves rarely and will defend against other dingoes, though territory is known to be shared when dingoes form packs to hunt | Dingoes occupy a clearly defined territory, which they leave rarely and will defend against other Dingoes. However, territory is known to be shared when Dingoes form packs for hunting. |
| A howl, seldom a bark | Dingoes rarely bark. They howl (note: blockquote lead-in) |
| Dingoes rarely bark. They howl, especially at night, to call pack members together or warn off intruders | Dingoes rarely bark. They howl, particularly at night in an effort to attract pack members or to ward off intruders. (note: blockquote and FAQ 2) |
| They also communicate with scent, rubbing, urinating and defecating on objects to mark the edges of | Other forms of communication include scent-rubbing, defecating and urinating on objects to mark territorial boundaries. (note: blockquote and FAQ 2) |
| a territory they leave rarely and will defend against other dingoes | Dingoes occupy a clearly defined territory, which they leave rarely and will defend against other Dingoes. (note: FAQ 2) |
| A Gene Pool Under Pressure | Today, the main threat to the Dingo comes from their contact with other breeds of domestic dog, Canis familiaris. The push of urban settlement into outback Australia allows for increased interbreeding between the two and will dilute the Dingo gene pool. (note: heading) |
| The main threat to dingoes today is contact with domestic dogs | Today, the main threat to the Dingo comes from their contact with other breeds of domestic dog, Canis familiaris. (note: current page (updated 26/05/26); 'other breeds of' dropped so the sentence takes no side on the taxonomy) |
| As towns spread into the outback, the two interbreed more often, which will dilute the dingo's gene pool | The push of urban settlement into outback Australia allows for increased interbreeding between the two and will dilute the Dingo gene pool. (note: 'towns' for 'urban settlement'; the gloss 'the mix of genes a population carries' defines the term) |
| for a dog that rarely barks: it howls, particularly at night, to call its pack together or warn off intruders | Dingoes rarely bark. They howl, particularly at night in an effort to attract pack members or to ward off intruders. (note: vibe.reason) |

## Species Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758. Australian Faunal Directory, Australian Biological Resources Study, 2025.

https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Canis_familiaris

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The Australian Faunal Directory, a checklist of Australia's animals, lists the dingo under the domestic dog's name, Canis familiaris | Species Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758 Dingo , Common Dog, Domestic Dog (note: body; the AFD entry for Canis familiaris lists 'Dingo' first among its common names) |
| The Australian Faunal Directory, a checklist of Australia's animals, lists it as Canis familiaris | Species Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758 Dingo , Common Dog, Domestic Dog (note: FAQ 1) |

## Dingo overview. Queensland Government, 2025.

https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/animals/living-with/dingoes/about-dingoes

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Canis familiaris | The current scientific name is Canis familiaris (dingo). (note: scientificName; AFD, ITIS (TSN 726820: 'Valid Name: Canis familiaris') and the Australian Museum agree) |
| and so does the Queensland government | The current scientific name is Canis familiaris (dingo). (note: body) |
| Queensland's government calls attacks on people relatively rare | While dingoes have the potential to be dangerous to humans, statistically the incidence of attacks on humans is relatively rare. (note: FAQ 4) |
| but warns that a dingo is a wild animal and can be dangerous | Despite looking like a domestic dog, the dingo is a wild animal and can be dangerous. (note: FAQ 4) |
| especially one that has learned to link people with food and lost its natural fear of them | learn to associate humans with food through handouts, unsecured food items or poorly disposed rubbish scraps. As a consequence, dingoes may become familiar and lose their natural fear of humans. (note: FAQ 4) |

## Heagney & Loram (2023). K'gari has suffered a spike in dingo attacks: what is behind it and what can we humans do to avoid them? ABC News.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-23/k-gari-fraser-island-dingo-attacks-spike-what-is-behind-it/102629828

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| On K'gari (Fraser Island), the last reported fatal attack was in 2001, when a dingo killed a nine-year-old boy who had tripped and fallen near a campsite | The last reported fatal attack occurred in 2001, when nine-year-old boy Clinton Gage was killed by a dingo after tripping and falling near a campsite on the island. (note: FAQ 4; the boy is not named on the page) |

## Smith et al. (2019). Taxonomic status of the Australian dingo: the case for Canis dingo Meyer, 1793. Zootaxa.

https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4564.1.6

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| named three times in quick succession: Canis familiaris dingo in 1780, Canis antarticus in 1792 and Canis dingo in 1793 | The dingo was first named C. familiaris dingo Blumenbach, 1780; and shortly after C. antarticus Kerr, 1792 and C. dingo Meyer, 1793. (note: body and FAQ 1; 'in quick succession' paraphrases 'shortly after') |
| which makes it a subspecies | Any changes to the current nomen of the dingo (currently Canis dingo Meyer, 1793), must therefore offer a strong, evidence-based argument in favour of it being recognised as a subspecies of Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758, or as Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758 (note: body and FAQ 1; the gloss 'or distinct population' defines the term for the reader) |
| Canis familiaris, the domestic dog | We apply this approach to respond to Jackson et al. (2017) who most recently proposed that dingoes are a domestic dog (C. familiaris), to reaffirm that dingoes are dingoes (C. dingo). (note: body and FAQ 1) |
| In 2019, Smith and colleagues replied that the dingo is its own species, Canis dingo | We apply this approach to respond to Jackson et al. (2017) who most recently proposed that dingoes are a domestic dog (C. familiaris), to reaffirm that dingoes are dingoes (C. dingo). (note: body and FAQ 1; 2019 is the paper's year (Published: 2019-03-04 on the publisher page)) |
| genetically, physically and behaviourally distinct from every other member of its genus | the Australian dingo is a geographically isolated (allopatric) species from all other Canis, and is genetically, phenotypically, ecologically, and behaviourally distinct (note: body and FAQ 1; 'physically' for 'phenotypically'; 'every other member of its genus' is 'all other Canis' (the paper: 'Genus Canis'); 'ecologically' dropped, not added) |
| appearing to still live largely as a wild animal | the dingo appears largely devoid of many of the signs of domestication, including surviving largely as a wild animal in Australia (note: body and FAQ 1; keeps the source's 'appears') |
| An Australia-wide genetic study, published in 2011 and 2015 and summarised in a 2019 review, found that 46% of the dingoes sampled had no dog ancestry | An Australia-wide study looking at the extent and spatial pattern of dingo–domestic dog admixture (Stephens 2011; Stephens et al. 2015) ... Overall, 46% of dingo samples were classified as having no dog ancestry. (note: dated in the sentence: Stephens 2011 and Stephens et al. 2015, as reported by Smith et al. 2019 (the review's own year)) |
| The south-east, with its dense human settlement and best farmland, had the most mixing: only 1 to 4% of the animals tested there showed no sign of dog ancestry in their genes | The southeast of Australia had the highest proportion of dingo-dog admixture, with only 1–4% of tested animals showing no dog-like genetic markers. This is not surprising given the density of human settlement and the location of the best land for agriculture in the southeast (note: same 2011/2015 survey; 'no sign of dog ancestry in their genes' for 'no dog-like genetic markers') |

## Jackson et al. (2017). The Wayward Dog: Is the Australian native dog or Dingo a distinct species? Zootaxa.

https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4317.2.1

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Scientists have argued over the dingo's scientific name since the late 18th century | The taxonomic identity and status of the Australian Dingo has been unsettled and controversial since its initial description in 1792. (note: body; 'late 18th century' covers 1792. Jackson dates the first description to 1792, Smith 2019 to Blumenbach's 1780 name: either way the late 18th century) |
| Scientists have argued over that since the late 18th century | The taxonomic identity and status of the Australian Dingo has been unsettled and controversial since its initial description in 1792. (note: FAQ 1, same fact as the body) |
| It has also been called Canis lupus dingo | Since that time it has been referred to by various names including Canis dingo, Canis lupus dingo, Canis familiaris and Canis familiaris dingo. (note: body and FAQ 1) |
| In 2017, Jackson and colleagues proposed calling every free-ranging dog in the world, dingo included, Canis familiaris | we proffer the name C. familiaris for all free-ranging dogs, regardless of breed and location throughout the world, including the Australian Dingo (note: body and FAQ 1; 'proposed' for 'proffer', 'every' for 'all'; 2017 is the paper's year) |
| arguing that the case for Canis dingo held up neither under the rules for naming animals nor on the genetic and body-shape evidence | The recent proposal for Canis dingo as the most appropriate name is not sustainable under zoological nomenclature protocols nor based on the genetic and morphological evidence. (note: 'the rules for naming animals' glosses 'zoological nomenclature protocols'; 'body-shape' glosses 'morphological') |
| With an Unsettled Name | The taxonomic identity and status of the Australian Dingo has been unsettled and controversial since its initial description in 1792. (note: heading; still unsettled in 2026: the museum's factsheet (updated 26/05/26) uses Canis familiaris, Smith et al. 2019 Canis dingo, and the Red List page read 2026-09-12 marks Canis lupus ssp. dingo no longer recognised) |

## Gordon et al. (2016). Shrub encroachment is linked to extirpation of an apex predator. Journal of Animal Ecology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12607

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Australia's largest land predator | Australia's largest terrestrial predator, the dingo (Canis dingo) (note: tagline and body; the current Australian Museum page agrees: 'Australia's largest mammal carnivore') |
| An Apex Predator | Our study provides evidence linking the suppression of an apex predator to the historic encroachment of shrubs. (note: heading and body; the apex predator of the paper's title is the dingo) |
| and an apex predator: a hunter at the top of its food chain | Our study provides evidence linking the suppression of an apex predator to the historic encroachment of shrubs. (note: body; 'a hunter at the top of its food chain' is the gloss of the term) |
| Yes: one study calls it Australia's largest terrestrial, or land-dwelling, predator | Australia's largest terrestrial predator, the dingo (Canis dingo) (note: FAQ 3) |
| Apex predators, the hunters at the top of a food chain, can set off chain reactions that change the numbers of many species in an ecosystem | Apex predators initiate trophic cascades which can influence the abundance of many species across multiple trophic levels within ecosystems. (note: FAQ 3; 'chain reactions' glosses 'trophic cascades') |
| In the Strzelecki Desert, shrub cover was 26 to 48% greater where dingoes were rare than where they were common | in the Strzelecki Desert, Australia ... Shrub cover was 26–48% greater in areas where dingoes were rare than common. (note: FAQ 3) |
| The study's model suggests why: without dingoes, mesopredators (mid-sized predators) become more common and hold down the rodents and rabbits that eat shrub seeds and seedlings, so more young shrubs take root | Our structural equation modelling supported the hypothesis that dingo removal facilitates shrub encroachment by triggering a four level trophic cascade. According to this model, increased mesopredator abundance in the absence of dingoes results in suppressed abundance of consumers of shrub seeds and seedlings, rodents and rabbits respectively. In turn, suppressed abundances of rodents and rabbits in the absence of dingoes relaxed a recruitment bottleneck for shrubs. (note: FAQ 3; 'suggests' keeps 'supported the hypothesis'; 'more young shrubs take root' for 'relaxed a recruitment bottleneck') |

## Davis et al. (2015). Interspecific and Geographic Variation in the Diets of Sympatric Carnivores: Dingoes/Wild Dogs and Red Foxes in South-Eastern Australia. PLOS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120975

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One study looked at 5,875 scats (droppings) collected across Victoria, in south-eastern Australia | We used the occurrence of food items in 5875 dingo/wild dog scats and 11,569 fox scats to evaluate interspecific and geographic differences in the diets of these species within nine regions of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. (note: the nine regions span beaches, coastal and montane forests, semi-arid rangelands and alpine grassland, so not 'Victoria's forests' as the writer had it) |
| between 1983 and 2014 | collected from throughout Victoria during summer, autumn, winter and spring between 1983 and 2014 |
| from dingoes, other wild dogs and their hybrids, whose scats can't be told apart | Dingoes, wild dogs and their hybrids (hereafter referred to as ‘wild dogs’ because their scats are indistinguishable) (note: the study's 'wild dogs' covers all three, so the page's later 'the wild dogs' means the same group) |
| The key mammal foods in them were black wallabies, brushtail possums, common wombats, sambar deer, cattle and European rabbits | The key mammalian food items for dingoes/wild dogs across all regions were black wallaby (Wallabia bicolor), brushtail possum species (Trichosurus spp.), common wombat (Vombatus ursinus), sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), cattle (Bos taurus) and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). |

## Corbett (2008). Canis lupus ssp. dingo. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T41585A10484199.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2008.rlts.t41585a10484199.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| On the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the dingo is still listed as Vulnerable under the name Canis lupus ssp. dingo, in an assessment from 2008 | Canis lupus ssp. dingo is listed as Vulnerable under criteria A2e (note: hand check: read from the live Red List page in Chrome on 2026-09-12 (iucnredlist.org refuses scripts; GBIF has no subspecies category). 2008 is the assessment's year in its title and DOI) |
| The Red List now marks that concept as no longer recognised, and the assessment as needing an update | Canis lupus ssp. dingo (This concept is no longer recognised) ... Needs updating (note: hand check, same live Red List page read in Chrome on 2026-09-12) |