Editing Wepwawet (section)

==Animal origin==
[[File:Amulet of Anubis on his Shrine MET 04.18.12 8 9.jpg|thumb|Jackal amulets in the form of Wepwawet]]
While we do not know for certain the exact species of animal represented by the Ancient Egyptian ''sꜢb'' / sAb animal (''Jackal''), the [[African wolf]] (''Canis lupaster'') was one species thought to depict and the template of numerous Ancient Egyptian deities, including Wepwawet.<ref>{{cite book |author=Remler, P. |title=Egyptian Mythology, A to Z |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-1438131801 |location= |page=99 |chapter= |chapter-url=}}</ref> Other species theorized include the [[black-backed jackal]] also called the silver-backed Jackal (''C. mesomelas'' or ''Lupulella mesomelas'') and [[golden jackal]] or [[Asiatic jackal]] (''Canis aureus'').

The [[Egyptian jackal]] was listed as a subspecies of the [[golden jackal]] but molecular and [[osteology|osteological]] data has established that it is a unique species in its own right. It is native to Egypt, [[Libya]], and [[Ethiopia]], though its post-[[Pleistocene]] range once encompassed the [[Palestine region]].

Inter-breeding between species also cannot be ruled out, and it has been posited that a species sharing the characteristics of both African jackal and wolf species could be the missing link, such as the combination of ''C. aureas'' and ''C. lupus lupaster'' appearing as ''[[Egyptian wolf|Canis aureus lupaster]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pouls Wegner |first=Mary-Ann |title=Wepwawet in Context: A Reconsideration of the Jackal Deity and Its Role in the Spatial Organization of the North Abydos Landscape |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27801611 |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt|date=2007 |volume=43 |pages=139–150 |jstor=27801611 }}</ref>