What extinct canid endemic to the Falkland Islands was the only land mammal native to the islands?

The extinct canid that was endemic to the Falkland Islands and was their only native land mammal was the Falkland Islands wolf, also known as the warrah. Its scientific name was Dusicyon australis.

The warrah lived on both East and West Falkland. It had tawny fur, a white-tipped tail, and a flexible diet that may have included seabirds, penguin eggs, insects, seal pups, and shoreline carrion. Because the islands had no native rodents or other land mammals, the warrah occupied an unusual ecological niche.

Charles Darwin encountered the animal during his 1833 visit and noted that it was unusually tame. European settlers later hunted it for its fur and poisoned it because they believed it threatened sheep. The species became extinct in 1876, only a few decades after permanent settlement expanded.

Despite its common name, the Falkland Islands wolf was not a close relative of the grey fox or culpeo. Genetic studies identify the maned wolf as its closest living relative, although the warrah’s precise route to the islands remains debated. It may have crossed during an Ice Age connection or been brought by people before European colonization.