I’ve never understood why so many people think any species of dog without hair is a chupacabras (and that’s how it is spelled, with an “s” a the end.) I suppose it’s good for ratings.
But I think it helps ensure that people are just a little bit dumber when it comes to the native creatures of this continent.
On another video, I explained that these animals were not coyote/hyena crosses. Such animals don’t exist. In fact, a coyote/hyena cross is about as likely as a cat/golden retriever cross. Hyenas are Feliform carnivores, which means they are closely related to cats, mongooses, civets, and all the animals that were once classified with mongooses and civets. Dogs are Caniform carnivores. They are more closely related to bears, raccoons, skunks and stink badgers, weasels (all the Mustelids), the red panda (which is classified in its own family), and the Pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses).
You may have intergeneric hybrids (like the Wholphin and cama), but you will never have inter-family hybrids. It’s not going to happen.
Now, I do have some questions about these hairless foxes and coyotes.
I suspect that most of these have mange.
However, it’s also possible that because these animals live in tropical and subtropical conditions at realtively high densities, they have developed a hairless or balding adaptation as a way of controlling the ectoparasites that infect them. The hairless dogs of Latin America are thought to have developed hairlessness as a way of controlling these parasites.
Now, I don’t think that if this were the case that the coyotes got those genes through hybridization. The genes that cause hairlessness in Latin American hairless dogs also cause weak tooth roots. A coyote would be at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to feeding itself. However, there are street dogs in Mexico that crossed with coyotes and gave them this gene. No one has tested them for the hairless gene, but at least one of these animals was part or fully domestic dog.
However, I think it’s much more likely that they are nothing more than some species of known canid with mange.
But calling them chupacabras is good for ratings and getting everyone excited.
Because sucking goats makes your hair fall out?
If they even suck goats!
What really happens is that in the tropics, the ants wind up carrying out the vital organs, including the liver, very shortly after death. The blood collects in the liver, so that’s why these corpses appear to have the blood sucked out of them and are missing organs. They carry them bit by bit out of the anus. So no extra holes.
And those with weird holes on their bodies are caused by maggots.
It’s not the chupacabras!
A coyote killed them. Then they ants scavenged it.
What would be the chance of some sort of coyote/dog hybrid. He’s got kind of an ugly face that does kind of have a ‘hyena’ look to it, but considering the number of different kinds of dog breeds…
And the bald thing…could it be a coyote/hairless dog cross? Not sure of the genetics with the hairless thing…
Dogs can hybridize with coyotes. In the Northern US and Canada, this almost never happens in the wild. Coyotes have breeding seasons that are very limited. Dog coyotes (the males) are only fertile for a few months a year, and the bitches are in season just once a year annually. Further, because of Bergmann’s rule, which states that different races of the same species tend to be larger. Larger coyotes might be too large to defend itself.
There are some dog genes in the coyote population, but it’s not a very much.
However, all studies of coyotes and their genes tend to come from the US and Canada. There are very few studies on South Texas, Mexican, and Central American coyotes. These tend to be smaller than the northern ones. They have a less definite breeding season, so they could be fertile at a time in which they could come in contact with dogs. Dog and coyote interbreeding might be more common in those populations.
Now, in Latin America, there are populations of hairless dogs and partially hairless dogs. These animals even exist among the street dog populations. They were once coveted by various Amerindian cultures, but now they are street dogs. It might be possible that these dogs could hybridize with coyotes in Mexico, and then offspring disperse north into the US.
My only complaint with that hypothesis is that we have two genes for hairlessness in dogs. The oldest one and the one established in Latin American dog populations (and virtually all hairless dogs, including the Chinese crested, which is from the US, not China) is a dominant gene. However, this gene causes hairlessness and it also associated with weak dentition. That’s why all the “Ugliest Dogs” tend to be Chinese cresteds– they lose their teeth and their tongues hang out. If a coyote got this gene, it would have weak dentition, and it would be unable to survive in the wild. However, really weak dentition is generally only associated with the Crested dog. The other hairless dogs tend to have strong enough teeth to survive okay.
There is another gene that causes hairlessness in dogs, but it’s a recessive gene. It also occurs, as far as I know, in only one breed of dog– the American hairless terrier. This breed was founded from the rat terrier. It turns out that rat terrier bitch in Louisiana had a hairless puppy, and from this puppy, a line of hairless rat terriers was founded. The teeth are normal with these hairless terriers. However, it’s very rare, and unknown in Latin American street dog populations. Generally, this breed is too small to mate with a coyote anyway.
I think it also may be possible that the coyotes are evolving their own hairless traits independent of domestic dogs. This is called parallel evolution, and it’s why porcupines of the Old and New World look similar. They are related but they evolved that similar trait independently of each other.
And then it’s possible that these are simply coyotes with mange. And I’ve totally over-thought this whole thing.
Over-thinking…part of the human make-up! And not necessarily a bad thing :)