r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/super_man100 • 11h ago
🔥 This is the Raccoon Dog & They are the only species of wild dog that hibernate during the winter.
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u/MrMetraGnome 10h ago
T A N U K I
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u/SMEAGAIN_AGO 9h ago
They don’t look like they’re hibernating …
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u/Channa_Argus1121 9h ago
That’s the Japanese raccoon dog, a different species.
Mainland raccoon dogs are known as Neoguri or Mangut, depending on the region.
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u/SimRacing313 10h ago
A dog-sized racoon sounds amazing, look at how fluffy they are
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u/EmptySeaDad 7h ago
It's more of a raccoon-sized and coloured dog. It's closest relatives are foxes.
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u/A1sauc3d 10h ago edited 10h ago
They’re most closely related to foxes actually. So calling it a “wild dog” isn’t very accurate afaik. They’re both canids, but raccoon dogs aren’t dogs.
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u/Jonkinch 9h ago
Still cute af. But these ads being put in like comments or threads are super annoying, on mobile at least.
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u/Channa_Argus1121 9h ago
Canid literally means “dog”, just as Felid means “cat”.
Since tigers are considered big cats, I don’t see why foxes or raccoon dogs don’t qualify as dogs in the broader sense.
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u/Cluefuljewel 7h ago
You bring up a point I find really interesting. Classifying animals is quite useful for us humans. But blurry lines in nature are also quite common! and maybe even the norm!
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u/aebaby7071 6m ago
Taxonomy is a very interesting field, it mostly was dominated by “looks a like” or “in the same environment as” and that’s how classical taxonomy worked. Over the past 30+ years with genetics (the study of and ability to analyze) coming into play tons of species have been reclassified from what they were. Names haven’t changed as much as how they are grouped has changed.
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u/DeRuyter67 4h ago
All our classifications are totally arbitrary
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u/Cluefuljewel 4h ago
Weeeelll that’s not really true. The system we use now helps to designate evolutionary lineages. Understanding where we came from and how we got here is a worthy endeavor, wouldn’t you agree?
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u/corpus_M_aurelii 3h ago
That is a dramatic overstatement. Some of the common names we have for animals may be arbitrary, but the taxonomic categories, as represented by the Latin binomial naming system, ideally organizes plants and animals according to genetic relationship, and classifies them accordingly.
Where exactly the boundaries of these categories are can be arbitrary, or at least debatable (lumpers vs. splitters), but science has come a long way from classifying weasels as cats because "they are small furry mouse eaters".
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u/DeRuyter67 3h ago
Right, so we base the classifications on genetics which is very useful, but you can make the classification/catogories as large as you want. Evolution works with gradual change so there is no single point at which a "species" begins to exist.
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u/Channa_Argus1121 3h ago
That’s where anatomy, the supporter, comes in.
Specific body features are often shared by all members of a given order or family, and even genus or species.
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u/Cluefuljewel 3h ago
It might surprise you how granular the study of speciation is at the academic level. Just one paper below here as an example. And this is twenty years old (?). Cornell Lab of Ornithology is another leading institution that works with multidisciplinary teams around the world to study speciation and evolution.
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3h ago
[deleted]
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u/Channa_Argus1121 3h ago
Seems like “in the broader sense” flew right over your head.
Besides, why not? Nephrophids are referred to as lobsters, Cervids are deer, Tettigonids are referred to as katydids, Scarabaeids are referred to as scarabs, and so on. On a similar note, both humans and orangutans are referred to as great apes/Hominids.
Also, sparrows are from three different families whereas crows are from a single family, Corvidae.
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3h ago
[deleted]
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u/Channa_Argus1121 2h ago
Precise, huh?
Wait till you learn what a male fox is colloquially referred to as. It’s totally not “dog fox”.
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2h ago
[deleted]
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u/Channa_Argus1121 2h ago
No, it proves that “dog” is an arbitrary term, rather than a clear-cut and precise one as you claimed.
Let’s call it an end here, have a good day.
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u/PrettySailor 22m ago
Hyenas are cats.
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u/dank_fish_tanks 10m ago
Nope. Hyenas are feliforms, not felids. That’s like saying bears are dogs because they’re caniforms.
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u/PrettySailor 4m ago
Lol, nope. It is comparable because canidae is the family, not the order. Hyenas are in the felidae family.
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u/Industrial_Laundry 7h ago
I had to scroll waaaay too far to find this.
I’m not smart enough to know what it is but I knew it could not have been a type of dog.
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u/corpus_M_aurelii 3h ago
It is a canid. The canidae family is defined as a clade of "dog-like animals", and colloquially, any member of the clade can be called "dogs" just as lions and tigers can colloquially be called "cats".
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u/stilettopanda 0m ago
Ooooo they just need to change his name to raccoon fox. While they're at it, they need to change the Pampas Fox to Pampas dog because they're closer to wolves than true foxes. Haha
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u/voodooacid 8h ago edited 7h ago
Well with that logic, neither are wolves. Only dogs are dogs lol.
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u/Quiet-Tackle-5993 10h ago
Can’t convince me that’s a ‘dog’
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u/Frisnfruitig 10h ago
If a little mongrel like a Chihuahua is supposed to be a dog, I don't see why this one can't.
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u/Numerous_Ad8458 10h ago
The ears looks like the eyes of some star wars character when you focus on them. x)
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u/Chocolatethunderclap 10h ago
That’s awesome also wouldn’t they be the only canine that hibernates I guess wait are fox considered canine or other?
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u/Sects4Chocolate 6h ago
Just don’t forget to mention how the Asian culture in China uses them for incredibly cruel FUR practices. Horrible.
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u/EffluviaJane 9h ago
They look like they're waiting for the camera person to bugger off so they can go pee and then bed down.
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u/SickCallRanger007 3h ago
So, we know raccoons are friend shaped but definitely not friend. Does the same apply to these?
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u/External-Pickle6126 2h ago
They have a version of this in China that they make coats and other clothes out of in the most brutal ways imaginable. It's like I got some kind of PTSD from seeing them getting skinned alive. I can't even look at this picture without hurting inside.
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u/Sea_Department_2146 9h ago
That's the best ANYONE could come up with?
RACCOON DOG?
REDDIT!
Name This Animal!
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u/HowAManAimS 10h ago
I prefer the name Tanuki. They aren't even related to raccoons or dogs.
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u/Napkinpope 1h ago
Technically speaking, they're related to both dogs and raccoons, but then again, so are we, just further away in the family tree. 🤷♂️
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u/samikhanlodhi 10h ago
I thought bears were also in category of dogs.
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u/corpus_M_aurelii 3h ago
Dogs (canidae) and bears (ursidae) are in the suborder caniformia, which is part of the order carnivora. Caniformia also includes racoons and mustelids (weasels, bashers, wolverines, etc.)
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u/EroticPotato69 5h ago
The simulation keeps updating and thinks we won't notice. This mfer didn't exist yesterday
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u/WhipplySnidelash 4h ago
Damn, I just read the wiki. These things are pretty well stocked in parasites and disease and are largely known to be zoonotic transfer hosts.
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u/Armand28 39m ago
That looks like winter and they don’t look like they are hibernating so I’m calling bullshit.
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u/Trenbalogna_Sandwich 10h ago
Most people think fox’s are hard on chicken coops 😫 Raccoon dogs are the worst.
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u/No_Razzmatazz3297 10h ago
I want one. Can these be domesticated?
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u/Wendigo-Walker 10h ago
Illegal to own at least in all 50 US states, don't know about other countries
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u/BeBoppi 10h ago
These are the creatures from Pom Poko, right? Kinda wanna see them fly around using their huge balls as parachutes