Genetic analysis reported by Australian scientists in Science Advances has found that dingoes occupy their own niche between wolves and domestic dogs.

Their long residency in Australia has allowed their genes to evolve to better adapt them to our unique environments. They are now a critical peak predator in the Australian landscape, indeed one of the few such predators left. Yet, as Dr. Kyle Cairns from UNSW commented, they are: “the only native animal that is baited and killed across national parks and conservation reserves”.

– Image from Australian National Museum.