Greek mythology gave us many crazy mixes. People complete with horse bodies, bull heads, bird wings... It seems that African nature was inspired by these combinations and mixed the North African golden wolf - half-wolf, half-jackal! 
You yourself are jackals! And I am a noble wolf!
Pf-f-f... So this is nonsense! Jackals and wolves are genetically siblings, so what’s surprising? The amazing thing is that golden wolves are natural werewolves! Depending on its habitat, the animal changes its appearance beyond recognition. In the north and west of Africa, the animals look like natural wolves that were carried into the desert by some forest. And in the east, the golden wolf definitely jumped: a thin waist, huge ears and a cunning muzzle. How did this happen? 
Everyone you see in the photo is the same species!
Most likely, due to a fierce cocktail in the genes. The fact is that the ancestor of our werewolf consisted of 72% gray wolf and 28% Ethiopian wolf. Therefore, the golden wolf greatly confused the brains of scientists, who still could not understand where to identify it. First, the animal was slipped as a subspecies to jackals, then to wolves, they say, this is an ordinary subspecies of the gray wolf. But everything was decided by a DNA test, which determined that the golden wolf is a separate species. And period! 
Why was I so angry? Because they called me a jackal.
One way or another, even the more wolf-like variations of animals turn out to be much smaller than their gray counterparts. They weigh only 10-15 kg, which is 2-3 times less. Here the peculiarities of the environment oblige us to grow smaller and follow Bergman’s rule. In the Algerian and Egyptian deserts, being large, round and furry is unprofitable - such an organism takes longer to cool down, and spends more energy on catching prey. 
The same bone that dad gnaws from all sides for the hundredth time.
Despite the controversial visuals, inside the wolf remains a wolf. Small dimensions do not prevent the savannah orderly from chasing antelopes and gazelles, biting goats, sheep and even cattle. A group of hunters can take down prey 3 times their size! 
You have been noticed.
However, the success of such an enterprise is not very clear, mainly because wolves rarely hunt in a pack. Most often, their prey is all sorts of little things: rodents, lizards, fish. Of course, they will not refuse rotten meat, so the animals enthusiastically fight with powerful vultures for carrion. 
Do you even know who I am?! They drew Anubis from me!
In relationships with people, a wolfish character also manifests itself. There is not much information about performing in circuses, but what North African wolves do not allow is taming. They also have disgust towards stray dogs. Despite the fact that golden wolves often live close to people, they almost never interbreed with strays. 
Even a puppy separated from the pack will forever remain wild. Auf!
By the way, about puppies. At the end of spring, the wolves begin to have amorous affairs. Here, in general, everything is like other dogs: both parents look after a litter of 3-5 offspring. At first, the family hides the puppies in a hole. It will be weeks before the grown-up little one joins the pack to terrorize the deserts and confuse the scientists!
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