SREL Reprint #1864
THE NEW GUINEA SINGING DOG: TAXONOMY,
CAPTIVE STUDIES AND CONSERVATION
PRIORITIES
I. LEHR BRISBIN, JR.
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29803, USA
RAYMOND P. COPPINGER & MARK H. FEINSTEIN,
Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002, USA
STEVEN N. AUSTAD,
Department of Biological Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83843, USA
AND JOHN J. MAYER.
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29803,
USA
ABSTRACT
Initially considered a new species of wild canid when discovered in the
mid-1950's, the New Guinea Singing Dog, alvo known as Hallstrom's Dog, is
more properly considered as a member of the complex of candid including the
gray wolf, domestic dog and Australian Dingo. The precise taxonomic status and
phylogenetic relationships of this group are matters of current controversy that
may require considerable reconstruction of traditional assumptions.
Although wild populations of these dogs have been noted in the higher altitudes
of the Central Highlands, they have invariably been overlooked as subjects of
research. 'This neglect has partially been the result of a failure to appreciate the
unusual features of this canid and to understand its position as a truly primitive
form of domestic dog. The possibility that these dogs may exert significant
predation pressure upon smaller native fauna further increases the need for field
studies in the Central Highlands where they are the only large mammalian
predator other than man.
Virtually all biological information for the New Guinea Singing Dog has resulted
from studies of captive animals. Foremost among its unique features is its vocal
behaviour including a form of howling marked by an extraordinary degree of
frequency modulation and a number of signals, e.g. a high-pitch rapid trill, which
have not been reported for other canids. The structural complexity and functional
significance of these vocal patterns are not yet well understood. Other unique
features include an annual reproductive cycle, with short-term recycling of estrus
in females which fail to become pregnant, and a social behaviour which suggests
a monogamous non-pack social organization.
Field studies of these animals are being hindered by what may be a recent
decline in their numbers and distribution. Of particular concern has been the
increasingly limited number of sites which isolate them from hybridization with
domestic dogs. This is probably the most significant conservation concern facing
wild populations today. There is hope that nonhybridized Singing Dog
populations may still exist at higher altitudes on Mounts Giluwe and Wilhelm in
Papua New Guinea, and in highlands to the south of the Lakes-Plains region of
the Idenburg and Rouffaer Rivers in Irian Jaya. A particularly important
population, due to its isolation, has recently been found in the Mount Mekil
region in far west Papua New Guinea.
SREL Reprint #1864
Brisbin, I.L., Jr., R.P. Coppinger, M.H. Feinstein, S.N. Austad, and J.J. Mayer. 1994. The New Guinea Singing Dog: taxonomy, captive studies and conservation priorities. Science in New Guinea 20:27-38.
