What is "raccoon dog"

Tanate \Ta*na"te\, n. (Zo["o]l.) An Asiatic wild dog ( Canis procyonoides), native of Japan and adjacent countries. It has a short, bushy tail. Called also raccoon dog.

n. The only species in the genus (taxlink Nyctereutes genus noshow=1) of the Canidae or dog family.

n. small wild dog of eastern Asia having facial markings like those of a raccoon [syn: Nyctereutes procyonides]

The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides, from the Greek words nukt-, "night" + ereutēs, "wanderer" + prokuōn, "before-dog" [but in New Latin used to mean " raccoon"] + -oidēs, "-oid"), also known as the mangut or tanuki, is a canid indigenous to East Asia. It is the only extant species in the genus Nyctereutes. It is considered a basal canid species, resembling ancestral forms of the family.

Among the Canidae, the raccoon dog shares the habit of regularly climbing trees only with the North American gray fox, another basal species. The raccoon dog is named for its superficial resemblance to the raccoon (Procyon lotor), to which it is not closely related.

Native East Asian raccoon dog populations have declined in recent years due to hunting, fur trade, urbanization, the increase of animals associated with human civilization (such as pets and abandoned animals) and diseases that may be transmitted between them. Following its introduction into central and western Europe, however, it has been treated as a potentially hazardous invasive species.