Koungoulos, Loukas G.Hulme-Beaman, ArdernFillios, MelanieJohnston, IvanMitchell, ErnestClark, WarrenKelly, DanielWinch, PatriciaReyland, MaureenEllis, CoralSlade, JoanKelly, Mick2025-05-232025-05-232045-2322PubMed:39294146http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85204417714&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733751616The dingo is a wild dog endemic to Australia with enigmatic origins. Dingoes are one of two remaining unadmixed populations of an early East Asian dog lineage, the other being wild dogs from the New Guinea highlands, but morphological connections between these canid groups have long proved elusive. Here, we investigate this issue through a morphometric study of ancient dingo remains found at Lake Mungo and Lake Milkengay, in western New South Wales. Direct accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from an ancient Lake Mungo dingo demonstrate that dingoes with a considerably smaller build than the predominant modern morphotype were present in semi-arid southeastern Australia c.3000–3300 calBP. 3D geometric morphometric analysis of a near-complete Mungo cranium finds closest links to East Asian and New Guinean dogs, providing the first morphological evidence of links between early dingoes and their northern relatives. This ancient type is no longer extant within the range of modern dingo variability, but populations from nearby southeastern Australia show a closer resemblance than those to the north and west. Our results reaffirm prior characterisations of regional variability in dingo phenotype as not exclusively derived from recent domestic dog hybridisation but as having an earlier precedent, and suggest further that the dingo’s phenotype has changed over time.Acknowledgements are owed to the original excavators and collectors of the ancient dingo remains that form the focus of this paper: Peter Clark, Peter Brown, Klim Gollan, Jeanette Hope and Mike McIntyre, and to Allison Dejanovic of the Australian Museum who facilitated extended study access to the specimens. We thank the Barkandji (Paakantji), Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa communities of western NSW for their endorsement of this research, and are grateful to Dan Rosendahl, Tressna Martin, Aaron Fogel and Pat Faulkner for their invaluable assistance in facilitating community engagements. For facilitating data collection from the comparative specimens of modern dingoes and dogs, we thank Sandy Ingleby and Harry Parnaby (Australian Museum), Karen Roberts (Museum Victoria), Denise Donlon (Shellshear Museum), Leo Joseph and Chris Wilson (CSIRO National Wildlife Collection), Sofia Samper-Carro (Australian National University), Heather Janetzki (Queensland Museum), Gavin Dally (Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory), Jude Philp (Macleay Museum), David Stemmer (South Australian Museum), Mike Letnic (University of New South Wales), Kenny Travouillon (Western Australian Museum) and Molly Hagemann (Bernice Bishop Museum). We also acknowledge the Kyoto University Primatology Research Institute\u2019s Digital Morphology Museum (KUPRI DMM) for providing 3D-scan data, and the private collectors and institutions (KUPRI) who provided the original specimens; we are additionally grateful for Naoko Egi\u2019s assistance in determining their affiliations. We extend thanks to Julie Sebanc-Butler for performing the preliminary FTIR analysis of the Mungo and Milkengay skeletal remains; to Fiona Petchey and Lorena Becerra-Valdivia for assistance with dating and isotopic analysis; Nicola Stern, Nathan Jankowski and Jim Bowler for expert insights into the sedimentology and stratigraphy of Lake Mungo\u2019s southern lunette; and to Harvey Johnston and Peter Brown for first-hand information regarding the discovery and provenance of many of the Mungo dingoes. We are also grateful to Damian Morrant for access and permission to use his isotopic data from modern dingoes. This research was funded by an Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship, and the Carlyle-Greenwell Research Scholarship from the University of Sydney. Assistance with publication expenses was also provided by the Ben Sandford Cullen Scholarship from the University of Sydney\u00A0and the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research at the University of New England. Acknowledgements are owed to the original excavators and collectors of the ancient dingo remains that form the focus of this paper: Peter Clark, Peter Brown, Klim Gollan, Jeanette Hope and Mike McIntyre, and to Allison Dejanovic of the Australian Museum who facilitated extended study access to the specimens. We thank the Barkandji (Paakantji), Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa communities of western NSW for their endorsement of this research, and are grateful to Dan Rosendahl, Tressna Martin, Aaron Fogel and Pat Faulkner for their invaluable assistance in facilitating community engagements. For facilitating data collection from the comparative specimens of modern dingoes and dogs, we thank Sandy Ingleby and Harry Parnaby (Australian Museum), Karen Roberts (Museum Victoria), Denise Donlon (Shellshear Museum), Leo Joseph and Chris Wilson (CSIRO National Wildlife Collection), Sofia Samper-Carro (Australian National University), Heather Janetzki (Queensland Museum), Gavin Dally (Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory), Jude Philp (Macleay Museum), David Stemmer (South Australian Museum), Mike Letnic (University of New South Wales), Kenny Travouillon (Western Australian Museum) and Molly Hagemann (Bernice Bishop Museum). We also acknowledge the Kyoto University Primatology Research Institute\u2019s Digital Morphology Museum (KUPRI DMM) for providing 3D-scan data, and the private collectors and institutions (KUPRI) who provided the original specimens; we are additionally grateful for Naoko Egi\u2019s assistance in determining their affiliations. We extend thanks to Julie Sebanc-Butler for performing the preliminary FTIR analysis of the Mungo and Milkengay skeletal remains; to Fiona Petchey and Lorena Becerra-Valdivia for assistance with dating and isotopic analysis; Nicola Stern, Nathan Jankowski and Jim Bowler for expert insights into the sedimentology and stratigraphy of Lake Mungo\u2019s southern lunette; and to Harvey Johnston and Peter Brown for first-hand information regarding the discovery and provenance of many of the Mungo dingoes. We are also grateful to Damian Morrant for access and permission to use his isotopic data from modern dingoes. This research was funded by an Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship, and the Carlyle-Greenwell Research Scholarship from the University of Sydney. Assistance with publication expenses was also provided by the Ben Sandford Cullen Scholarship from the University of Sydney and the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research at the University of New England.enPublisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.202410.1038/s41598-024-65729-385204417714