Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How many canine species and genera are recognized in the family Canidae?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
canine
A hardy sled dog.
The family Canidae consists of 36 recognized living species distributed across 12 genera. This count excludes the Falkland Islands wolf (Dusicyon australis), which was hunted to extinction in the late 19th century.1
The 12 recognized genera are as follows:
- Vulpes (foxes): 12 species1
- Canis (dogs, wolves, jackals, and coyotes): 8 species1
- Lycalopex (South American foxes): 6 species2
- Urocyon (gray foxes): 2 species1
- Atelocynus (small-eared zorro): 1 species1
- Cerdocyon (crab-eating fox): 1 species1
- Chrysocyon (maned wolf): 1 species1
- Cuon (dhole): 1 species1
- Lycaon (African hunting dog): 1 species1
- Nyctereutes (raccoon dog): 1 species1
- Otocyon (bat-eared fox): 1 species1
- Speothos (bush dog): 1 species1