Quaternary mammals form an important part of the material available for researchers focusing on paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Their study is thus often used to infer the environmental constraints that set the pace of human dispersal through the world. The genus Canis, main subject of this thesis, is present in Western Europe since its origin three million years ago. This continuous presence makes it a good candidate as a paleoenvironmental proxy, even when considering its ecological plasticity. The study of ten fossil sequences from Southern France spanning the Pleistocene, coupled with the analysis of the variability of modern populations, bring new insights on the evolution of the members of this lineage. Our results, once confronted to previous studies, allowed us to propose a new phylogeny. This new framework permits a better understanding of the apparition and disappearance of the different species, but also demonstrates the biochronological potential of the Canis genus. Three major phases have been identified in its evolutionary history. The transition between the different Canids is correlated with major events in the history of quaternary mammals (bioevent). Thus, its phylogeny can be used for biochronological purposes and has to be considered in the bigger debates that focus on the interactions between animal communities and human groups.
