The painted dog goes by many names. It is most commonly called the African Wild Dog but it has, more recently, become apparent that the name “Painted Dog” is likely to counteract the negative association that is automatically made when the African Wild dog is mentioned. Painted Wolf is another name that many conservationist groups feel might help in rebranding the negative image held by these animals and makes for a rather accurate interpretation of the scientific name: Lycaon Pictus (wolflike and painted).
It would seem that people have always some had trouble deciding what to call this peculiar creature. In 1820, Dutch Zoologist Coenraad Temminck named the animal “Hyaena Picta” or painted hyaena. Later, it was discovered by Joshua Brooks that it was a Canid (dog) rather than a hyena and he accordingly renamed it, Lycaon Tricolour. Later, the name was changed to Lycaon Pictus as was required by the International Rules of Taxonomic Nomenclature which state that both words in the name must be in Latin.
A few other, more common names for the painted dog include:
-African hunting dog
-Cape hunting dog
-Painted hunting dog
-Painted lycaon