Dog

Distribution: Cosmopolitan

Size Length: 6.3‒250 cm (min. a max. ever recorded)

Weight: 0.113‒155.6 kg (min. a max. ever recorded)

Life Span: 10‒13 years (widely varies among breeds)

Diet: Omnivore

Social life: Gregarious

IUCN red list status: Not evaluated



Member of the canid family, the dog is a well-known mammal much do to its proximity with humans. It usually gives birth to six cubs but this varies with the size and weight of the animal. Proven to have predatory habits, the dog is also a very adaptable scavenger not depending on meat like obligatory carnivores such as cats. Thought to have evolved this way taking advantage of human leftovers.

Dogs communicate with each other using: vocalization, facial expression, body posture and also using scents, pheromones and taste. They have also developed the ability to communicate and understand human signals by some of the behaviours described above, this once again thought to be the result of dog evolution relying on humans.

It has been selectively bred for more years than any other animal and these actions gave origin to a vast number of physically and even behaviourally distinct individuals. Animals that share a great deal of these characteristics are grouped by “breeds” and usually bred with each other so that the descendants can conserve the same traits.