108 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



got there naturally, and not by the aid of man. Be that as it may, his 

 fossil remains are found in Australia along with those of extinct animals, 

 so that if he were artificially introduced, it must have been by some very 

 ancient race. As I have elsewhere suggested, it is quite possible that 

 away from Australia the true Dog does not occur wild at all, but is repre- 

 sented by the pariahs of the towns, which have domesticated themselves 

 to a certain extent of their own free will, the case being similar to that 

 of the common Mouse and, it may be added, to that of the Sparrow. 

 This hypothesis would not, of course, exclude a descent in some cases 

 from the Wolf, or one or more of the Jackals, and probably there has 

 been much crossing. In any case, the original Dog was a poor, skulking 

 brute, and owes all his fine qualities to our selection of the best indi- 

 viduals from our point of view ; the Dingo is an unmitigated pest, and 

 is kept down in Australia by all possible means. 



THE MANED WOLF 



( Cants jubatus} 



THE Dog family is widely distributed over the world, but, with the 

 exception of the Wolf, the species of America are different from those 

 of the Old World. Of the South American kinds the most remarkable is 

 the Maned Wolf or Aguard-guazu, the latter name meaning " large fox." 

 This beast almost equals the true Wolf in size, but is otherwise very 

 different ; in form it is light and high on the legs, and is a far less 

 powerful animal. Its colour is bright chestnut, with some black on 

 the muzzle and front of the legs, and the inside of the ears white. 

 This coloration is, by the way, repeated in a South American Deer 

 (Cariacus paludosus), which would, by some naturalists, be supposed to 

 have acquired its hue by natural selection in mimicry of the canine. 

 The Aguara-guazu is a solitary nocturnal animal, and a good runner and 

 swimmer. It seems not to attack large prey, though domestic animals 

 are sometimes frightened by its mournful cry of " Goo-ah." It is rare 

 in captivity, but has been exhibited at the London Zoological Gardens. 



