Description:
<jats:p>Recently, molecular analyses revealed that African and Eurasian golden jackals are distinct species. This finding suggests re‐investigation of the phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of other African members of the Canidae. Here, we provide a study on the phylogenetic relationship between populations of African jackals <jats:italic>Lupulella mesomelas</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>L. adusta</jats:italic> inferred from 962 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene. As expected from its disjunct distribution, with one population in eastern Africa and the other one in southern Africa, we found two mitochondrial lineages within <jats:italic>L. mesomelas,</jats:italic> which diverged about 2.5 million years ago (Ma). In contrast, in <jats:italic>L. adusta</jats:italic> with its more continuous distribution in sub‐Saharan Africa, we found only a shallower genetic diversification, with the exception of the West African population, which diverged around 1.4 Ma from the Central and East African populations. Both divergence ages are older than, for example the 1.1–0.9 million years between the grey wolf <jats:italic>Canis lupus</jats:italic> and the African golden wolf <jats:italic>C. lupaster</jats:italic>. One taxonomic implication of our findings might be that the two <jats:italic>L. mesomelas</jats:italic> populations warrant species status. However, genome‐wide data with adequate geographical sampling are needed to substantiate our results.</jats:p>