What has partially webbed paws and a bushy tail and is almost never seen? The short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis), also known as the “ghost dog.” The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) recently shared a trail-cam photo of this elusive canine, calling it “one of the Amazon’s rarest species.”
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“To date, scientists only had museum specimens to study,” wrote the WCS in a social-media post sharing the rare photo. “But a 25-year camera trap study by our @wcs_bolivia team is giving us a new glimpse.”
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This species is endemic to the Amazonian basin, meaning it only lives there.
Thanks to camera-trap data, scientists believe the ghost dog is more common than originally thought—even more abundant than jaguars, WCS says. The trail cams have also help scientists realize that these wild dogs are not nocturnal, which was the previous assumption.
See the rare “ghost dog” on a trail cam in the Amazon below.
Header stock image by NeagoneFo/Getty Images
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