What ARE the differences between coyotes and golden jackals?

Discuss other canids (coyotes, foxes, dholes, etc.).

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La Striata
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What ARE the differences between coyotes and golden jackals?

Post by La Striata » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:10 am

I'm serious, the golden jackal is probably my favourite canid, but truth be told, other than size, I can't see any sizeable difference between it and a coyote. The golden jackals of Eastern Europe and Africa (the ones in South-east Asia are quite distinct) in particular are surprisingly coyote-like.

Here are some photographs showing coyote-like jackals. What are your opinions? Would you have guessed they were coyotes, or does something about their appearance give them away?

http://cdn.wn.com/pd/98/34/c4c6651cd153 ... grande.jpg

http://www.kazrikphotos.com/USERIMAGES/IMG_1892.JPG

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/photo1187380.htm

http://www.ejphoto.com/images_TZ/TZ_GoldenJackal02.jpg

http://web.bf.uni-lj.si/bi/NATURA-SLOVE ... 10_1_5.pdf contains a photo of an animal which I would have thought was 100% coyote.

So, canine experts, could you help shed some light? Perhaps they are really the same species...
I cannot see that wolves are in any way nobler in character than hyenas- Frederick Selous

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Re: What ARE the differences between coyotes and golden jackals?

Post by Blightwolf » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:23 am

Ears. At least in my eyes coyotes seem to have more roundly-shaped ears than jackals. Jackals have slightly more pointier, larger and tapered ears: the tip is sharper and more pointed than in coyotes; coyotes have a rounded tip and their ears resemble more the ears of wolves' than those of jackals'. Jackals' ears look somewhat "thinner" than coyotes' and they aren't as well-furred.

But other than that, I didn't pick out much differences at all. O.o
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La Striata
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Re: What ARE the differences between coyotes and golden jackals?

Post by La Striata » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:39 am

Blightwolf wrote: But other than that, I didn't pick out much differences at all. O.o
Scary isnt it? As far as I know, no comparitive analyses have been done for the DNA of golden jackals and coyotes. I sometimes wonder if they are simply different geographical variants of the same species.
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Re: What ARE the differences between coyotes and golden jackals?

Post by Blightwolf » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:44 am

La Striata wrote:
Blightwolf wrote: But other than that, I didn't pick out much differences at all. O.o
Scary isnt it? As far as I know, no comparitive analyses have been done for the DNA of golden jackals and coyotes. I sometimes wonder if they are simply different geographical variants of the same species.
The anatomy between them is strikingly similar. The shape of the ear was the only difference that I took notice of and even that was a very minor difference.
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Re: What ARE the differences between coyotes and golden jack

Post by caninesrock » Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:45 pm

Looking at the first picture, coloring. They have a more golden color hence why they are called golden jackals, while coyotes seems to typically have colors that are mixes of browns, grays, and blacks sometimes tans,but not a golden color as far as I can tell. The ears on the first jackal also look much large and more pointed than that on a coyote. The muzzle looks shorter and less narrow,pointed compared to that on a coyote. The head shape looks a bit different somehow as well,but I can't place it.

The link for the second picture doesn't work so I can't compare.

For the third link,those indeed do look extremely coyote-like. However, I can spot some differences. The muzzle again is shorter and wider than that on a coyote. The color is a richer, less dull brown. The ears on those particualr jackals are rounder than those on coyotes,almost wolf-like. The ears are also not as spread far apart on their heads as on a coyote's head. The head anatomy-wise almost looks like the head of gray wolf,but shrunk down to smaller size and put in somewhat coyote-like colors, rather than like the head of a coyote.

Picture 4: It is hard to tell because in the previous pictures, it seemed most of the major morphological differences were on the head while the body seemed to still look very simliar to that of a coyote. In this particular picture, the jackal has its head in a pose that makes it hard to see the anatomy of it. However, one thing that does strike me is the very golden color that really shows where the golden jackal got its name from.

Picture 5: Ears smaller and more rounded. Coat color richer brown than found on most coyote subspecies. Face/muzzle somehow looks more fox-like.

Hope this helps.

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