So on what species of jackal was Kurnugian Jackal based on, Golden jackal or Black-backed jackal?

[Hubertdradon]

I saw an kurnugian jackal official art the other day, and made me wonder, is this based on the actual jackal species, or is it based around canis jackal species.

[Hubertdradon]

heres the link to the kurnugian jackal art https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/10y7bfh/a_great_lowlevel_2e_ paranoia_monster_the/

[BishopMcQ]

Looking at pictures of real world jackals, the coloring appears to be closer to an African black-backed jackal. The image you provided also has more of a fur ridge than jackals generally do, which reminds me a bit of a striped hyena.

Take those ideas, add a touch of Lamashtu and artistic creativity, and you get a nice cryptid style creature that at first glance is familiar but the more you look at it, the creepier it becomes.