C. hallstromi Female Skull measures 6.7 inches. C. hallstromi Female Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw).
The New Guinea singing dog or New Guinea Highland dog is an ancient (basal)lineage of dog found in the New Guinea Highlands, on the island of New Guinea.
Once considered to be a separate species in its own right, under the name C. hallstromi, it is closely related to the Australian dingo. The dog is relatively unusual among canines; it is one of the few to be considered “barkless” (hence its common name of “singing dog”), and known for its unusual “yodel”-like style of vocalizing.
In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group considered the New Guinea singing dog and the dingo to be feral dogs Canis familiaris, and therefore should not be assessed for the IUCN Red List.
In 2020, a nuclear genome study indicates that the highland wild dogs from the base of Puncak Jaya, within the Tembagapura district in the Mimika Regency of Papua, Indonesia, were the population from which captive New Guinea singing dogs were derived.
The study revealed that the wild dogs show much more genetic diversity than the captive animals, which are severely inbred.
This indicates the wild population is healthy. The size and distribution of the wild population is not known.
Mitochondrial DNA indicates that the highland wild dogs possess the A29 haplotype, rather than the A79 haplotype which is found in the New Guinea singing dog. The A29 haplotype is found in dingos, some New Guinea singing dogs, and some Asian, Arctic, and village dogs.
A phylogenetic tree shows the highland wild dogs to be basal to the dingo and New Guinea singing dog, and therefore the potential originator of both.
The New Guinea singing dog’s taxonomic status is debated, with proposals that include treating it within the species concept (range of variation) of the domestic dog Canis familiaris, a distinct species Canis hallstromi, and Canis lupus dingo when considered a subspecies of the wolf.
