And, while dingoes are largely harmless, they have been known to attack humans and even kill.
Dingoes are most common along the edges of forests and grasslands where prey is usually abundant.
The researchers analysed mtDNA sequences in 211 dingoes and compared them to a world-wide sample of 676 dogs.
Dingoes control populations of animals that compete for pasture with cattle such as kangaroos - and possibly feral goats and feral pigs.
BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Dingo has 'vital ecosystem role'
The reason it is done is because dingoes do sometimes kill calves.
BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Dingo has 'vital ecosystem role'
Dingoes hunt kangaroos, and will banish foxes from land they occupy.
"You basically have two ecological universes - a system with dingoes and a system without dingoes - they are completely different places, " Dr Letnic told BBC News.
Professor Johnson said he would also like to see large areas of Australia designated as "wild country", where dingoes were accepted as a natural part of the ecosystem.
BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Dingo has 'vital ecosystem role'
From sandy riverbed campsites you can watch flocks of colourful parrots as the sun goes down, and the night becomes even more eerie when dingoes fill the darkness with their howls.
Even more effective in a country where farming is hugely important may be his contention that dingoes probably increase the profitability of cattle farming, by removing kangaroos that otherwise eat vegetation.
Using Australian government data on endangered species, the researchers calculated that 16 threatened mammals would benefit from the presence of dingoes, while the wild dogs would only be detrimental to three species.
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