This photograph of a Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) unfortunately looks as if it were taken in someone's yard, but these South American canids are fascinating all the same. I will tread lightly here as Anne-Marie is the expert round these parts, but there is at least one interesting story to tell about these animals. Like many other canids they mark their territory with urine, urine that has a very distinctive smell (like hops or marijuana) in the case of the Maned Wolf. So close is the scent that the police once were looking for who was smoking pot at the Rotterdam Zoo only to discover that all they were picking up on was wolf pee.
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Today's image shows the ever-interesting Maned wolf, the so-called 'fox on stilts' Chrysocyon brachyurus, kindly supplied by Anne-Marie of Pondering Pikaia. Anne-Marie studies these animals for her honors thesis. Maned wolves are well known for being predators of large rodents (like pacas) and…
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This is interesting, because just to look at it, it looks like a cross between a hyaena and a fox, not a wolf. Good picture.
Ah, I love the smell of Chrysocyon urine in the morning...it is always entertaining to watch the zoo visitors react to it when they approached, because after spending hours stationed by exhibit I stop noticing it.
Melanie: I have heard this comment from so many visitors when they see this animal for the first time!
Brian, thanks for the link and for bringing attention to the species, it's amazing how many people have never even heard of it. *As soon* as finals are over I plan to have a couple of posts up about it, including the controversy over where it fits in the canid phylogeny.
A children's animal book I had last time mentioned it as being like "a fox on stilts", and that is how it has remained in my mind.
It is fascinating to note that while all continents where canids are native have their own large pack-hunting species, surprisingly in South America it is not the maned wolf but rather the much smaller bush dog that lives and hunts in packs, in the moister regions. But then again, didn't the dire wolf's range extend into South America as well? It'd be interesting if it turns out that the South American pampas was never home to any species of large, pack-hunting canid.