Kingdom Animalia Class Mammalia Suborder Caniformia Rank Subspecies | Phylum Chordata Order Carnivora Family Canidae | |
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The European dhole (Cuon alpinus europaeus) was a paleosubspecies of dhole which ranged throughout much of Western and Central Europe during the late Middle Pleistocene. Like the modern Asiatic populations, it was a more progressive form than other prehistoric members of the genera Cuon, having transformed its lower molar tooth into a single cusped slicer. It was virtually indistinguishable from its modern counterpart, save for its greater size, which closely approached that of the grey wolf.
It became extinct in much of Europe during the late Würm period, though it may have survived in the Iberian Peninsula up until the early Holocene. One factor contributing to its extinction may have been interspecific competition with grey wolves and other wolf-like canids.