Rare 'singing' dog, thought to be extinct in wild for 50 years, still thrives

This dog is able to make harmonic sounds that have been compared to the calls of a humpback whale.

The New Guinea singing dog, an extremely rare breed, is best known for its unique barks and howls -- it's able to make harmonic sounds that have been compared to the calls of a humpback whale.

A comparison of DNA extracted from blood collected from three of the dogs suggested they have very similar genome sequences and are much more closely linked to each other than any other canine, according to research published on Monday in the journal PNAS. "The conservation dogs are super inbred; started with eight dogs, and they've been bred to each other, bred to each other, and bred to each other for generations -- so they've lost a lot of genetic diversity."

Despite anecdotal reports and unconfirmed photographs in recent years, many feared the New Guinea highland wild dog had become extinct through loss of habitat and mixing with feral village dogs. According to the San Diego Zoo, the singing dog's joints and spine are extremely flexible -- it climbs and jump like a cat. The zoo said that sonograms had shown that this dog's unique wail is similar to the song of the humpback whale.

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