View source for Jackal

{{Taxobox
| name = Jackals
| fossil_range = 23 mya{{ndash}}present
| image = A Golden Jackal - Powalgarh, Uttarakhand, India.jpg
| image_width = 200px
| image_caption = [[Golden Jackal]]
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammal]]ia
| ordo = [[Carnivora]]
| familia = [[Canidae]]
| genus = ''[[Canis]]''}}
[[File:Schabracken-Schakal_crop.jpg|thumb|Black-backed jackal]]

'''Jackals''' are [[Canidae|canid]] species found in [[Africa]], [[Asia]] and [[Europe]].<ref>"Jackal" is a [[common name]], and does not take an initial capital except when starting a sentence.</ref> They are [[carnivore|carnivorous]] of small and medium-sized [[prey]]. To hunt, they can run at speeds of 16 [[kilometre|km/h]] (10 [[mile|mph]]). This is not fast, but they have great endurance, so can run for a long time. 

They often chase prey as a pair or a group, usually not as individuals. Jackals are "opportunistic [[omnivores]]", which will take on larger animals if they need to. They are predators of small to medium-sized animals and [[scavenger]]s.

Jackals are monogamous (each [[male]] lives with only one [[female]]). A pair defends its [[territory]] from other pairs: they mark the territory with [[urine]] and [[feces]]. The territory may be large enough to hold some young adults who live with their parents until they have their own territory. Sometimes, jackals join small packs, for example to hunt a big animal, but normally they hunt alone or as a pair.

Jackals are not a [[clade]].  They have several times developed from canid ancestors. However, they are closely related. It could be put this way: jackals are dogs which have a certain similar appearance and behaviour. They all have 78 chromosomes.<ref>Wayne R. 1993. Molecular evolution of the dog family. ''Trends in Genetics''. '''9''' (6): 218–24. doi:10.1016/0168-9525(93)90122-X. PMID 8337763</ref>
There are three [[species]] of jackals:
*'''Black-backed jackal''' (''Lupulella mesomelas'') - the common jackal, live in many African [[habitat]]s;
*'''Golden jackal''' (''Canis aureus'') - live in South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe;
*'''Side-striped jackal''' (''Lupulella adusta'') - live in central and Southern Africa;

A canid from [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]], the Ethiopian wolf (''Canis simensis''), is sometimes called Simien jackal, but it is really a [[wolf]]. The Ethiopian wolf is one of the rarest and most [[extinction|endangered]] of all canids.

== References ==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Canids]]