Although there was a report of a population of HWD in the HeLa Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2009, it was based on several assumptions and no animals were ever sighted ( 7). Indeed, prior to 2016 they were photographed only twice (19) ( 2, 6). However, because of their secretive nature and propensity to live at high altitudes distant from villages, HWD are rarely observed. In this context, nuclear DNA studies of highland wild dogs (HWD) from New Guinea, so named based on their habitat combined with the initial observation of a “wild dog” on Mount Scratchley in 1897 ( 5), which share striking morphologic similarity to both the NGSD and dingo, are of interest. For years conservation biologists have concluded that the NGSD may be extinct or nearing extinction in the wild due to loss of habitat and the encroachment of mainland breed dogs and village dogs ( 1, 3, 4). The dogs produce a characteristic harmonic vocalization ( 1), described as a “wolf howl with overtones of whale song” ( 2). The New Guinea singing dog (NGSD) is a rare canid living in the New Guinea highlands that, in the wild, is the largest land predator on the island of New Guinea. Taken together, these data indicate the HWD possesses a distinct potential to aid in the conservation of NGSD both in the wild and under human care. Admixture analyses and estimation of shared haplotypes with phylogenetically diverse populations also indicates the HWD is a novel population within the distinct evolutionary lineage of Oceanic canids. Comparison of single-nucleotide polymorphism genotypes shows strong similarity between HWD and the homogeneous captive NGSD, with the HWD showing significantly higher genetic diversity. The extreme altitude (>4,000 m) of the highland wild dogs’ (HWD) observed range and confirmed vocalizations indicate their potential to be a wild NGSD population. We have analyzed the first nuclear genomes from a canid population discovered during a recent expedition to the highlands of NG. This conclusion was based on the lack of sightings in the lowlands of the island and the concurrent expansion of European- and Asian-derived dogs. Although once plentiful on the island of New Guinea (NG), they were presumed to currently exist only in captivity. Their novel behaviors and potential singular origin during dog domestication make them an attractive, but elusive, subject for evolutionary and conservation study. New Guinea singing dogs (NGSD) are identifiable by their namesake vocalizations, which are unlike any other canid population.
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