Nyctereutes
genus of mammals
Nyctereutes (Ancient Greek: νύξ, νυκτ- [nýx, nykt-] 'night' + ἐρέυτης [eréutēs] 'wanderer') is a genus of Asian canid with two extant species, the raccoon dogs: the common raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) and the Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes viverrinus).
Nyctereutes entered the fossil record 5.5 million years ago (Mya) in northern China. It was one of the earliest canines in the Old World. All but two species became extinct before the end of the Pleistocene. A study suggests that the evolution of Nyctereutes was influenced by environmental and climatic changes, such as the expansion and contraction of forests and the fluctuations of temperature and precipitation. The two extant species diverged around 0.5 million years ago, which is before the last glacial period of the Pleistocene.
Captive common raccoon dogs are one of the leading possibilities for the 2019 transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, from animals to humans.
Characteristics
They are typically recognized by their short snouts, round crania and the shaping of their molars, specifically the ratio between M1 and M2. Nyctereutes is considered mainly an opportunistic carnivore, feeding on small mammals, fish, birds, and insects, alongside occasional plants, specifically roots. Their diet is mostly influenced by environmental factors.
“Nyctereutes” enters the record as genus of mammals. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Nyctereutes, genus and mammals can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Nyctereutes” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Nyctereutes, genus and mammals provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2900104. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2019.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nyctereutes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.