New Guinea singing dog

The New Guinea singing dog or New Guinea Highland dog The two dogs had been obtained from natives.

New Guinea Highland wild dog

In 2017, the New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation (NGHWDF) announced to the media that in 2016, it and the University of Papua had located and photographed a group of 15 of what it referred to as "highland wild dogs."

In 2020, a nuclear genome study indicates that the highland wild dogs from the base of Puncak Jaya, within the Tembagapura district in the Mimika Regency of Papua, Indonesia, were the population from which captive New Guinea singing dogs were derived. The study revealed that the wild dogs show much more genetic diversity than the captive animals, which are severely inbred. This indicates the wild population is healthy. The size and distribution of the wild population is not known. Mitochondrial DNA indicates that the highland wild dogs possess the A29 haplotype, rather than the A79 haplotype which is found in the New Guinea singing dog. The A29 haplotype is found in dingoes, some New Guinea singing dogs, and some Asian, Arctic, and village dogs. A phylogenetic tree shows the highland wild dogs to be basal to the dingo and New Guinea singing dog, and therefore the potential originator of both.

The limbs and spine of the New Guinea singing dog are very flexible and they can spread their legs sideways to 90°, comparable to the Norwegian Lundehund. They can also rotate their front and hind paws more than domestic dogs, which enables them to climb trees with thick bark or branches that can be reached from the ground; however, their climbing skills do not reach the same level as those of the gray fox, and are similar to those of a cat.

The eyes, which are highly reflective, are triangular (or almond-shaped) and are angled upwards from the inner to outer corners with dark eye rims. Eye color ranges from dark amber to dark brown. Their eyes exhibit a bright green glow when lights are shone on them in low light conditions. There are two features which researchers believe allow New Guinea singing dogs to see more clearly in low light. According to Robert Bino (1996),