A wolf in jackal clothing?

For a long time, scientists believed the African golden jackal and the Eurasian golden jackal were related members of the dog species, canis aureus. They look, eat and act a lot alike. But new research has revealed information from testing DNA samples that shows they are quite different. The African golden jackal is now thought to have evolved from coyotes and gray wolves.

So these researchers suggested it was appropriate to change the name to the African golden wolf and in doing so, they increase the number in the dog family from 35 to 36.

Source: Sciencemag.org