The Bush dog is a south American Canid, and the only member of the genus Speothos (there was another species in this group but it is already extinct.
Bush dogs are active during the day, and live in packs of up to 12 animals. There is only an alpha pair which breeds, but all will guard the pups, and the males will bring food for the female who stays with the pups.
It is classed as near threatened, but are found across the northern half of the Southern American continent.
They are effective hunters. Their small size allows them to move across the forest floor rapidly, and they have webbed feet, which means that they are good swimmers when they need to cross water (many rainforest flood from time to time.
They are so rarely seen, even in their native habitat, that they were first discovered in the fossil record.
