Hybridising with dogs is unlikely to lead to dingoes changing their skull shape or losing their status as the top predator in Australian ecology, researchers say.

Key points: It was previously thought the dingo's skull would change due to cross-breeding

It was previously thought the dingo's skull would change due to cross-breeding Latest findings using CT scans find little evidence to support this

Latest findings using CT scans find little evidence to support this The dingo's skull shape dominates in hybrids

The dingo's skull shape dominates in hybrids Dingoes are likely to remain Australia's top predator

Their argument is based on new findings from a CT scan-based study that shows the dingo's skull is virtually unchanged when it hybridises with a dog.

Ecologist Associate Professor Mike Letnic of the University of New South Wales said while there are changes to some degree, they "aren't huge".

"We think that what's happening is that the dingo genes are dominant.

"We think that dingoes probably aren't going to disappear or change dramatically."

Canis dingo was introduced to the Australian continent around 3,000 years ago and was largely isolated from other canids such as dogs until Europeans arrived.

A previous study of dingo skulls by CSIRO found evidence that the skull of dingoes changed when they hybridised with dogs.

"They used callipers to compare the skulls of wild-caught dingoes with animals they'd deliberately crossed in captivity with domestic dogs," Dr Letnic said.

Since skull shape can influence what animals are capable of eating, the findings triggered concerns that hybridisation might threaten dingoes' role as top predator in Australia, resulting in knock-on ecological effects.

But Dr Letnic and colleagues have found evidence to the contrary, in a study of specimens including those originally studied by CSIRO, published today in the Evolutionary Biology journal.

"We found that there's a tendency for the hybrid animals to converge towards the wild-type dingo. They look more like a dingo than they do like a dog," Dr Letnic said.

Landmark points help define skulls

A diagram of the dingo skull from below (A) and above (B) with numbered landmark points on it. ( W.C.H. Parr )

The new study also included specimens such as cattle dogs that dingoes are likely to breed with, as well as other canids such as wolves and the New Guinea singing dog.

After scanning the skulls, the researchers used a sophisticated method to analyse and compare the 3D shapes they captured

Team member Dr Will Parr of the University of New South Wales said points were used as landmarks to characterise each skull in a 3D space.

"We couldn't find a statistical difference between the skull shapes of the dingoes and the hybrids," said Dr Parr, who studies the morphology of bones.

The landmarks did identify some regions of the skull that changed through evolution and breed development — and these differed between dingoes and other canids like wolves. But these same regions did not change during hybridisation, Dr Parr said.

Dr Parr said the dingo skull shape was "resistant" despite multiple episodes of hybridisation.

Dingo facts Dingoes are related to dogs, wolves and foxes

Dingoes are related to dogs, wolves and foxes Dingoes are sometimes considered pests because they eat livestock

Dingoes are sometimes considered pests because they eat livestock But they also control feral cats, goats, foxes and kangaroos

But they also control feral cats, goats, foxes and kangaroos In some parts of Australia dingoes are protected

"The results show that when you hybridise dogs with dingoes the resulting shape is more dingo like than dog-like, and after subsequent hybridisation back with dingoes, the end result is even more dingo-like," he said.

Ecologist Dr Euan Ritchie of Deakin University said the research was "very important" to understanding the role of dingoes in the ecology.

"The dingo body shape and design is really successful in the Australian landscape," he said.

"There's obviously strong selection pressure for a body shape and a skull shape that's successful in terms of capturing prey."