Vulpes

Within Vulpes, 12 separate extant species and four fossil species are described:

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution	Distribution map
	V. bengalensis	Bengal fox	Bengal foxes are endemic to the Indian subcontinent.[4]
	V. cana	Blanford's fox	Blanford's fox is native to the Middle East, including Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Pakistan. This species prefers semiarid environments.[5]
	V. chama	Cape fox	The Cape fox is only found in Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa. They thrive in semiarid and arid environments with rich grasslands.
	V. corsac	Corsac fox	Corsac foxes live in Central Asia. Like V. chama and V. cana, their natural habitat is semiarid deserts.
	V. ferrilata	Tibetan sand fox	The Tibetan sand fox, as the name suggests, is endemic to the Tibetan and Ladakh plateau in Nepal, China, India, and Bhutan. This species lives at altitudes up to 5300 m.[6]
	V. lagopus	Arctic fox	Arctic foxes inhabit all of the Arctic Circle (Russia, Svalbard, Iceland, Fennoscandia, Greenland, Northern Canada, and Alaska).
	V. macrotis	Kit fox	Kit foxes are an arid area-dwelling North American species. They are found in Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, California, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States, as well as in Mexico.
	V. pallida	Pale fox	The pale fox lives in the Sahel region in Africa, and is an arid area-dwelling species.[7]
	V. rueppellii	Rüppell's fox	Ruppell's foxes are found in North Africa and parts of the Middle East.[8]
	V. velox	Swift fox	The swift fox is found in the western grasslands of North America, specifically Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, as well as the Canadian Prairies.
	V. vulpes	Red fox	The red fox is the most abundant and most widely distributed species of Vulpes, occurring throughout the Northern Hemisphere (North America, Asia, and Europe). They also are present in Australia, though they were brought there by humans for fox hunting in the 1830s, and are considered an invasive species.
	V. zerda	Fennec fox	The fennec fox lives in North Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.

Artistic reconstruction of Vulpes stenognathus

The oldest known fossil species within Vulpes is V. riffautae, dating back to the late Miocene of Chad, which is within the Neogene. The deposits where these fossils are found are about 7 million years old, which might make them the earliest Canidae in the Old World. They are estimated to have weighed between 1.5 and 3.5 lb. V. skinneri, from the Malapa Fossil Site from South Africa, is younger than V. riffautae by roughly 5 million years, and shows up in the early Pleistocene.[9]

Two other extinct, less documented fossils are known: V. praeglacialis and V. hassani. V. praeglacialis was discovered in the Petralona Cave in Chalkidiki, Greece. The age of the deposits (Early Pleistocene) makes it the earliest occurrence of Vulpes in Europe. V. hassani is found in a Miocene-Pliocene deposit in northwestern Africa.[9] This species may have given rise to current Rüppell's fox, which lends support that the close phylogenetic clustering of Rüppels and Red foxes is the result of recent introgressive hybridization rather than recent speciation.[10]

In the Pleistocene, Vulpes had a fairly wide distribution, with eight species found in North America. Of these eight, six are not fossil, and three species still remain in North America (V. velox, V. macrotis, and V. vulpes). The remaining three moved on to sections of Africa over time. V. stenognathus[11] is extinct, but has extant sister taxa including V. chama, V. rueppellii, V. velox, and V. vulpes, which fits with these species all evolving together in North America.

Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) in winter pelage.

True foxes are small to medium-sized animals, usually smaller than other canines, such as wolves, dogs, and jackals. For example, the largest species, the red fox, weighs on average 4.1–8.7 kg[13] and the smallest species, the fennec fox, weighs only 0.7–1.6 kg.[14] They have long, dense fur, and a bushy, rounded tail that is at least half as long, or fully as long as, the head and body. They have a rather long body with shorter limbs, a long, narrow muzzle, and large, pointed ears. The forelimbs have five toes, while the hind legs have only four.[15] The skull is light and slender, elongated. Sagittal crest not developed at all or weakly defined.[16]

Vulpes species have vertically-slit pupils, which generally appear elliptical in strong light like those of cats, which provide them with significant advantages.[17] Like most canids, true foxes have a muscular body, powerful jaws, and teeth for grasping prey. Blunt claws are especially useful for gripping the ground while tracking down their prey.[18] Some species have a pungent "foxy" odor, arising mainly from a gland located on the dorsal surface of the tail, not far from its base.[15] Not much sexual dimorphism is displayed, although males are slightly larger.[16]

In general, Vulpes has a bone structure very close to that of its canid relatives, but there are some variations. For example, although canid limbs are designed specifically for running quickly on land to catch prey, Vulpes species avoid rapid sprints, excluding when being chased, and have become more specialized for leaping and grasping prey. In Vulpes vulpes, for example, the adaptions for leaping, grasping, and climbing include the lengthening of hind limbs in relation to fore limbs, as well as overall slenderizing of both hind and fore limbs. Muscles are also emphasized along the axis of limbs.[19]

The length, color and density of the fur of fox species differ. Fennec foxes (and other desert-adapted fox species such as Vulpes macrotis) have large ears and a short coat to keep the body cool.[20] On the other hand, the Arctic fox has small ears and a thick, insulating coat to keep the body warm.[21] A solid color coat is seen in most animals, but there are occasions where the coat color varies over the year to enhance camouflage against the current seasons landscape.[18] The red fox, Ruppell's fox, and Tibetan sand fox possess white-tipped tails.[22] The Arctic fox's tail-tip is of the same color as the rest of the tail (white or blue-gray).[23] Blanford's fox usually possesses a black-tipped tail, but a small number of specimens (2% in Israel, 24% in the United Arab Emirates) possess a light-tipped tail.[22] The other foxes in this group (Bengal, Cape, corsac, fennec, kit, pale, and swift) all possess black-tipped or dark-tipped tails.[22]

The range of the genus is very wide, present in a wide variety of habitats, from the desert to the Arctic, and from high altitudes in the mountains to open plains. True foxes are opportunistic and thrive anywhere they can find food and shelter. They are also widespread in suburban and urban areas, where they can take advantage of human food supplies; however, they prefer to stay away from large industrial areas.[24] In certain areas, foxes tend to do better where humans are present, including in many agricultural landscapes,[25] forests and patchy woodlands.

Most true foxes are nocturnal, but they can be active during the morning and dusk and occasionally hunt and scavenge in daylight during winter. Many fox species are solitary or nomadic, living most of their lives on their own, except for the mating season, when they have a monogamous relationship with a partner. Some live in small family groups, others are more gregarious.[26]

Vulpes have a high variation in social organization between species and populations. Their hierarchical society usually depends on population densities.[27] As population density increases, there is also an increase in the formation of social groups. These groups consist of one dominant pair and a few other subordinate adults that tend to be related. Dominance is established within the den, and dominant kits have usually more access to food and often hold higher social status. If a dispute occurs, dominance is determined by fighting, and the loser may be rejected from its group. These social groups can consist of up to ten adults.[27][28] Cape foxes likely have a matriarchal social organization.[29]

• Media related to Vulpes at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Vulpes at Wikispecies