The New Guinea Singing Dog appeared in 2023 videogame called Kemono Friends 3. The New Guinea Singing Dog is a type of mammal Friend that appeared in Guidebook 3. She was then redesigned for her Kemono Friends Festival appearance and has since appeared in Kemono Friends 3.
New Guinea Singing Dog's new and old designs are nearly identical.
In her old design, she has short, light brown hair with pointed animal ears that have darker fur on the inside, a dark spot on the top and lighter brown markings on the bangs. The hair at the bottom in the back is a dark brown. She has brown-orange eyes. Her short tail is curved upwards and is primarily dark brown, with lighter shades of brown on the underside.
She wears a long and loose sleeved dark brown collared shirt with two thin red stripes on the end of the sleeves. Underneath this she wears brown gloves with dark brown hands. Over her shirt she wears a red dress with vest-style straps, four silver buttons and two thin black lines at the bottom. At her collar is a frilly yellow bow with long thin tails. Finally, she wears brown tights that are dark brown below the knee and black shoes.
In her new design, the bow on her neck is now stark white and the buttons on the bodice have been removed. Nothing else was changed.
The New Guinea Singing Dog is an ancient breed of dog found on the island of New Guinea, specifically the New Guinea Highlands. It is distinct among other canids due to its unique form of vocalizing- it is one of the few "barkless" dogs (like Dingoes and Basenji dogs). Rather than the barking most dogs are known for, New Guinea Singing Dogs "yodel".
Compared to other species of dog, New Guinea Singing Dogs have shorter legs and broad, blocky heads. They have an average shoulder height of 31–46 cm (12–18 in) and weigh around 9–14 kg (20–31 lb.). Interestingly, they lack rear dewclaws. Their coats range from black to brown to tan, with black points around the face, muzzle, and tail tip. The very tip of the tail is white.
Their eyes are triangular, are angled upwards, are highly reflective. The reflectiveness makes them produce a bright green glow when lights are shone on them in low light conditions (e.g. night time). Researchers believe there are two distinct features which case the glow: One is that their pupils open wider and allow in more light than in other dog varieties. The other is that they possess a higher concentration of cells in the tapetum, which sits directly in front of the retina.
Like other wild canids, their diet consists of mainly mall to middle-sized marsupials, rodents, and birds, with the occasional fruit. Specific prey includes cuscuses (possums), wallabies, and, while unconfirmed, possibly Dwarf cassowaries. New Guinea singing dogs in human care do not require specialized diets, but seem to thrive on lean, raw meat diets based on poultry, beef, elk, deer, or bison.
Circa 1989, Australian mammologist Tim Flannery took a photo of a black-and-tan dog while in Papua New Guinea. He noted that not only were there domesticated dogs living with the local tribal peoples, there were also wild, feral populations scattered throughout the grasslands of the Star Mountains and the Wharton Range. The aforementioned photo was published in his book, Mammals of New Guinea.
In 1999, a study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) showed that domestic dogs may have originated from multiple grey wolf populations, whereas the dingo and New Guinea singing dogs descended from a time when human populations were more isolated. In 2005, mammologist W. Christopher Wozencraft proposed two additional subspecies in his book, the third edition of Mammal Species of the World. These newly proposed subspecies being "familiaris Linnaeus, 1758 [domestic dog]" and "dingo Meyer, 1793 [domestic dog]". However these classifications are debated by zoologists today.