The dingo is a type of dog native to Australia. Its taxonomic status is debated. It is regarded as a feral dog because it descended from domesticated ancestors. The first British colonists to arrive established a settlement at Port Jackson in 1788 and recorded dingoes living there with indigenous Australians. Although the dingo exists in the wild, it associates with humans but has not been selectively bred as have other domesticated animals. It is a medium-sized canid that possesses a lean, hardy body adapted for speed, agility and stamina. The dingo's three main coat colours are described as being either light ginger , black and tan, or creamy white. The head is the widest part of the dingo, is wedge-shaped, and large in proportion to the body. The dingo skull differs to that of the domestic dog by its larger palatal width, longer rostrum, shorter skull height, and wider sagittal crest. One can regard the dingo as an ecotype or an ecospecies which has adapted to Australia's unique environment. It is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List due to declining numbers caused by hybridization with the domestic dog. Genetic studies indicate that the dingo is closely related to the New Guinea singing dog, that their lineage split early from the lineage that led to today's domestic dog, and that their lineage can be traced back through the Malay Archipelago to Asia. In the archaeological record, the earliest known dingo skeletal remains in Australia date to 3,450 years before present , which led to the widely-held belief that dingoes arrived with seafarers to Australia 5,000 YBP. The comparison of these early fossils with modern dingoes indicates that dingo morphology has not changed over the past 3,500 years. This suggests that there has been no artificial selection over this period and that the dingo represents an early form of dog from 4,000–5,000 years ago. They have lived, bred, and undergone natural selection in the wild, isolated from other canids until the arrival of European settlers, resulting in a unique canid. Accordingly, some scientists argue that the dingo should be recognised as a distinct taxon that should be classified under its original Latin name, Canis dingo. A recent genetic study shows that the lineage of those dingoes found today in the northwestern part of the Australian continent split from the lineage of the New Guinea singing dog and southeastern dingo 8,300 YBP, followed by a split between the New Guinea singing dog lineage from the southeastern dingo lineage 7,800 YBP. The study proposes that there were two dingo migrations when sea levels were lower and Australia and New Guinea formed one landmass named Sahul that existed until 6,500–8,000 years ago. The dingo is recognised as a native animal under the laws of all Australian jurisdictions. The dingo's distribution covers a variety of habitats, including the temperate regions of eastern Australia, the alpine moorlands of the eastern highlands, the arid hot deserts of Central Australia, and the tropical forests and wetlands of Northern Australia. Dingos prey on mammals up to the size of the large red kangaroo, in addition to birds, reptiles, fish, crabs, frogs, insects and seeds. The dingo's competitors include the native quoll, the introduced European red fox and the feral cat. A dingo pack usually consists of a mated pair, their offspring from the current year and sometimes offspring from the previous year.Livestock farming commenced expanding across Australia from the early 19th century, which led to conflict between the dingo and graziers. Sheep, and to a lesser extent cattle, are an easy target for dingoes. The pastoralists and the government bodies that support their industry have shot, trapped, and poisoned dingoes or destroyed dingo pups in their dens. After two centuries of persecution, the dingo or dingo–dog hybrids can still be found across most of the continent. The dingo plays a prominent role in the dreamtime stories of indigenous Australians; however, it rarely appears depicted in their cave paintings when compared with the extinct thylacine.
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