South American fox

Lycalopex[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Tribe: Canini
Subtribe: Cerdocyonina
Genus: Lycalopex
Burmeister 1854
Type species
Canis magellanicus[3]
Species
Range of the six living zorro species
Synonyms
  • Pseudalopex Burmeister 1856
  • Canis (Pseudalopex) Allen 1895

The South American foxes (Lycalopex), commonly called raposa in Portuguese, or zorro in Spanish, are a genus from South America of the subfamily Caninae. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related to wolves and jackals than to true foxes; some of them resemble foxes due to convergent evolution. The South American gray fox, Lycalopex griseus, is the most common species, and is known for its large ears and a highly marketable, russet-fringed pelt.

The second-oldest known fossils belonging to the genus were discovered in Chile, and date from 2.0 to 2.5 million years ago, in the mid- to late Pliocene.[4] The Vorohué Formation of Argentina has provided older fossils, dating to the Uquian to Ensenadan (Late Pliocene).[5]

  1. ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference FWaustralis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  4. ^ Lucherini, M. & Luengos Vidal, E. M. (2008). "Lycalopex gymnocercus (Carnivora: Canidae)". Mammalian Species. 820: Number 820, pp. 1–9. doi:10.1644/820.1. hdl:11336/115900.
  5. ^ Vorohuen (sic; Vorohué) Formation at Fossilworks.org