To get a sense of what pure dingoes looked like, compared to dingo-dog hybrids, Crowther and his colleagues examined 69 dingo skulls from museum specimens dating back to at least 1900, along with a handful of skin specimens. Back then, it was unlikely the animals would have bred with domesticated dogs. The researchers established a benchmark for dingo features that differ from those of the typical dog: a wider head, longer snout, and shorter skull height.
Crowther said the proper identification of dingoes has practical applications, because policies in Australia support the conservation of dingoes but the extermination of hybrids. According to Reuters, “the scientists think there are still pure dingoes in parts of Australia, [coauthor Mike Letnic of the University of New South Wales] said, but without having the DNA from these old animals, they cannot be 100 percent sure.”
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