Genbank Search

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Genbank Search

On January 27, 2011, there was a newspaper item that the Egyptian jackal, which is believed to be the inspiration for the Jackal-headed God, Anubis, is, in reality, a member of the grey wolf family, a newly discovered subspecies. Recent genetic research, according to PLoS ONE’s journal, shows that the African wolf, closely related to the Himalayan wolf, is the continent’s only member of the gray wolf family.

Genetic Research Proves that Anubis is a Wolf God

Scientists discovered that the Egyptian jackal, Canis aureus lupaster, once considered a rare subspecies of the golden jackal, Canis aureus, is a grey wolf, Canis lupus, when researchers compared its DNA with samples in the genetic database, GenBank. University of Oslo researcher Dr Eli Knispel Rueness said they were stunned when they found the wolf’s DNA that didn’t match anything in GenBank.

In 1880, evolutionary biologist Thomas Huxley said Egyptian golden jackals looked like grey wolves. Several 20th century biologists who studied these canines’ skulls concurred. Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit’s scientists’ genetic research proves this beyond a doubt.