Sardinian dhole

Sardinian dhole Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene-Holocene
Drawing of the skeleton of C. sardous scale bar = 20 cm
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Subfamily:	Caninae
Tribe:	Canini
Genus:	†Cynotherium Studiati, 1857
Type species
Cynotherium sardous Studiati, 1857
Other species
Cynotherium malatestai Madurell-Malapeira, Palombo & Sotnikova, 2015
Former range (in red)

The Sardinian dhole (genus Cynotherium especially C. sardous) is an extinct insular canid which was endemic to what is now the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica during the Middle-Late Pleistocene. It went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene around the time of human settlement of the islands.

Its scientific name means "dog-beast of Sardinia", the genus name from the Ancient Greek: θήρ, romanized: thḗr, lit. 'beast', 'wild animal' and κύων, kyōn, 'dog' and the specific name from the Latin: Sardous, lit. 'of Sardinia', alt. form of Latin: Sardus.

Around the size of a jackal, morphological studies indicate it was a specialised stalking predator of small mammals and birds, with a probable preference for the endemic Sardinian pika.