Canidae-+McGrath

﻿Beagles

The Beagle Canis lupus Classification: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Canidae Genus: Canus Species: Lupus Subspecies: Domestic Dog

Canidae Family:
 * Jackal
 * Coyote

Canidae Family members, or canids, have physical characteristics and behaviors that define their group of animals. Canids have long legs and lithe bodies that help them chase down their food., as they are carnivorous creatures. They usually have 42 strong teeth, with strong molars which allow them to crack open bone. Many have bushy tails, non-retractable claws and dewclaws on the front feet. They walk on their toes so they are digitigrades. Canids may give birth to 1-16 pups once a year and tend to the young for a long time. The pups are born blind for the first few weeks after being born. Canidae members tend to live in groups in the wild called packs and withing the pack there are always dominant leaders. They communicate by howling, barking, growling, and even gestures toward other pack members. To drive others out of the pack's territory they leave urine scent marks to warn passersby to stay away. These animals have a good sense of smelland hearing due to their ears or "leathers". Canidae is divided into two subspecies including Wild (wolf-like) and domesticated (dog-like).

Beagles (Domestic Dog: Subspecies of Canis lupis):

Movement: Beagles are digitigrades like all canids so they walk on their toes. They possess non-retractable claws and a dewclaw on each front foot.

Eating: Though Beagles may have the same strong molars as Wolves they still have weaker jaws and smaller teeth than their wild cousin. The Beagle still has the prey drive instinct (usually to chase squirrels and rabbits) but they are domesticated so they only need their teeth to eat dry kibble and canned goods.

Growth and Developement: Male Beagles can grow up to 14-16 inches while females are only around 13-15 inches. Males may weigh 22-25 pounds while females can be around 20-30 pounds.

Coloring: Beagles may be lemon, tri-color, black and tan, red and white, orange and white, lemon and white, blue tick, or red tick in coloring.

Dogs vs. Wolves: Wolves have many adaptations that are superior to those of dogs. To start wolves have stronger jaws and larger teeth than dogs. Female wolves come into heat once a year (Spring) allowing pups to grow stronger before Winter hits. Female dogs come into heat twice a year since domestication has allowed them better conditions for raising offspring. Dogs tend to resemble young wolves though. Wolves howl more often than dogs and dogs bark more than wolves. Dogs still have similar instincts to wolves such as dominance in a pack and prey drive.

Sources: [|PBS.org] [|Wikipedia.org] [|i-love-dogs.com]