Canis lupus familiaris

Basic information
Scientific name	Canis lupus familiaris	Click to magnify
Major synonym	Canis familiaris
Common names	Feral dog, Domestic dog
Higher taxon	Canidae, Carnivora, Mammalia
Natural range	A domestic animal. This species was originally domesticated ca. 15000 years ago, and the ancetral species is the wolf Canis lupus, originally distributed in entire Eurasia and North America. According to DNA analyses, the dog is most close to the Chinese subspecies C. l. chanco, although other Eurasian subspecies might also be a part of the ancestor of the dog.
Habitat	Forest, urban area.

Invasion information
Range in Japan	Almost entire Japan
Origin	Unknown.
Date	Old (—1400).
Route	Deliberate introduction (as pet).
Impact	Predation on native mammals, such as sika deer and native rabbits. Carrying zoonosis such as canine madness. Native organism(s) affected: Native mammals, etc.
Regulation in Japan	No action for prevention, mitigation, control, or eradication.
Introduced range in other countries	Worldwide. The wild dogs in Australia and New Guinea (dingo and New Guinea singing dog) is considered to originate from domestic dogs naturalized several hundreds years ago.

Reference	Notes
Abe (ed) (1994) A Guide to Mammals of Japan. Tokai Univ. Press, Hatano (in Jpn) Kawamichi (ed) (1996) The Encyclopedia of Animals in Japan 1 Mammals I. Heibonsha, Tokyo (in Jpn) Long (2003) Introduced Mammals of the World: Their History, Distribution, and Influence. CABI Publishing. etc.