Anubis is a WOLF!

 

Some taxonomical notes...

The golden jackal (Canis aureus) is mostly associated with India and the Middle East, but it has also considerably expanded its European range, with small populations in northern Norway and Finland, perhaps entering Swedish Lapland as we speak. Yes, golden jackals north of the Arctic Circle!

A similar-looking canid in North and West Africa was previously considered to be a subspecies of the golden jackal. This is the animal associated with the Egyptian god and psychopomp Anubis. However, recent DNA research shows that it´s really a separate species, closer related to the wolves than to the golden jackal. Its vernacular name is African wolf, golden wolf or African golden wolf, with the Egyptian population being called - you divined it - Egyptian wolf. The scientific name is Canis lupaster. Or Canis lupaster lupaster, if you´re a Egyptian wolf specifically (well, sub-specifically). 

So strictly speaking, Anubis doesn´t have the head of a "jackal" at all, but the head of a wolf! Imagine that. It does make him less romantic, but (perhaps) more scary... 

Somewhat ironically, it should be noted that the golden jackal itself isn´t really a jackal either, LOL, but is *also* closer to the wolf, a kind of wolf cousin perhaps? The "real" jackals in sub-Saharan Africa are usually classified in the genus Lupulella, not Canis. 

So Anubis is a wolf, and the golden jackal - associated with Tantric goddesses in India - is also wolfish. Somehow, I´m not surprised.