The Golden Jackal (Canis aureus), also called the Asiatic, Oriental or Common Jackal, is an extant species of jackal native to north and east Africa, southeastern Europe and South Asia to Burma. Canis aureus has its origins in the Pliocene at 3.6 Mya. It is the largest of the jackals, and the only species to occur outside Africa, with 13 different subspecies being recognised. Although often grouped with the other jackals (the Black-backed Jackal, and the Side- striped Jackal), genetic research indicates that the Golden Jackal is not closely related to them, but is within a "wolf" group which also includes the Gray Wolf (and the Domestic Dog) and the Coyote. The genetic evidence is consistent with the form of the skull, which also bears more similarities to those of the Coyote and the Gray Wolf than to those of the other jackal species. Some biologists, notably Konrad Lorenz, once regarded the Golden Jackal as the direct ancestor of the domestic dog, and that wolf bloodlines were added later through crossbreeding. The theory was rejected later on, because Golden Jackals are less sociable than dogs, and have a distinct howling pattern.

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