Blanford's fox
Blanford's fox | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Canidae |
Genus: | Vulpes |
Species: | V. cana[1]
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Binomial name | |
Vulpes cana[1] (Blanford, 1877)
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Range of Blanford's fox | |
Synonyms | |
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Blanford's fox (Vulpes cana) is a small
Naming
Blanford's fox is named after the English naturalist William Thomas Blanford, who described it in 1877. It is also known as the Afghan fox, royal fox, dog fox, hoary fox, steppe fox, black fox, king fox (Persian: شاهروباه, romanized: shāhrūbāh), cliff fox or Balochistan fox.[3]
Distribution and habitat
The Blanford's fox has a rather discontinuous range. Initially known only from
There are now confirmed records in the
It was also sighted in northern
Description
Blanford's fox is a small fox with wide ears and a long, bushy tail nearly equal to the length of its body.[11] Its body size often varies geographically. In the Afghan-Iranian region, the collected specimens had head-body lengths of 38.5 to 80 cm (15.2 to 31.5 in) and tail lengths of 33 to 41 cm (13 to 16 in), while specimens in Oman had a total length of 73.5 to 76 cm (28.9 to 29.9 in) and a tail length of 35 to 36 cm (14 to 14 in). Weights of those specimens averaged 873 g, body lengths 42 cm, tail 32.5 cm.[12] Among all extant canids, only the fennec fox is smaller than Blanford's.[13]
The body is brownish-grey, fading to light yellow on the belly. The winter coat is soft and woolly, with a dense black undercoat and white fur speckles in the dorsal area; together with a somewhat thicker layer of fat, it serves as thermal insulation in cold and dry winter.[11] The summer coat is less thick, the fur is paler, and the white hair is less noticeable. A characteristic mid-dorsal black band extends caudally from the nape of the spine, becoming a mid-dorsal crest along the length of the tail. The tail is the same colour as the body. A black spot is found at the base of the spine. The tip of the tail is normally black, but it is white in some individuals.[14] The dark mid-dorsal line, which is a distinctive characteristic of the Israeli specimens, is less noticeable in Oman specimens, although the black tail markings are similarly developed.[11][15]
Like other arid land foxes, Blanford's fox characteristically large ear is an adaptation to enhance heat dissipation.[16] However, unlike other desert foxes, it does not have pads covered with hair,[14] and it has cat-like, curved, sharp claws described by some authors as semiretractile.[15]
This fox has an ability to climb rocks and make jumps described as "astonishing", jumping to ledges 3 m (9.8 ft) above them with ease, and as part of their regular movements and climbing vertical, crumbling cliffs by a series of jumps up vertical sections.[14][12] The foxes use their sharp, curved claws and naked footpads for traction on narrow ledges and their long, bushy tails as a counterbalance.[14]
Behaviour and ecology
The Blanford's fox is strictly nocturnal, an activity pattern that is most definitely an anti-predator response to diurnal raptors. There are no significant seasonal or gender variations in the activity patterns, and climate conditions at night in the desert of Israel seemed to have little direct effect on their activity, except under extreme conditions.[17]
Diet
Blanford's fox is
Blanford's foxes are almost always solitary foragers, only foraging in pairs on occasion. Unlike other fox species, it seldom caches food.[19][16]
Reproduction
Blanford's foxes are thought to be strictly monogamous. Monogamy may be beneficial in this species as the dispersion of their prey is such that, in order to accommodate additional adults, it would demand a territorial expansion that would bring more costs than benefits.[20][14]
Females are monoestrus and come into heat during January–February. Gestation period is around 50–60 days, and litter size is one to three. The lactation period is 30–45 days. Neonates are born with soft, black fur, with an estimated body mass of 29 g. At the age of two months, the kits start to forage with one of the parents, and at 3 months of age they begin to forage on their own. Juveniles have similar markings as adults, but their fur is darker and more grayish. Sexual maturity is reached at the age of 10–12 months.[11][15]
Average lifespan of Blanford's foxes is 4 to 5 years, and does not exceed 10 years in the wild.[21]
Conservation
While the IUCN has downgraded Blanford's fox to "least concern" as more has been learned about the breadth of its distribution across the Middle East, very little is known about this species and its vulnerabilities to the diseases of domesticated dogs that have so badly affected other canids. Currently, little competition exists with humans for habitat, and the fox is a
See also
- Wildlife of Afghanistan
- Wildlife of Egypt
- Wildlife of Iran
- Wildlife of Israel
- Wildlife of Jordan
- Wildlife of Oman
- Wildlife of Pakistan
- Wildlife of Saudi Arabia
- Wildlife of the United Arab Emirates
- Wildlife of Yemen
References
- ^ OCLC 62265494.
- ^ . Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Blanford's fox". Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife. 29 August 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- .
- ^ Peters, G.; Rödel, R. (1994). "Blanford's fox in Africa". Bonner Zoologische Beiträge. 45 (2): 99–111 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- .
- ^ Mallon, D.; Budd, K. (2011). Regional Red List Status of Carnivores in the Arabian Peninsula (Report). Cambridge, UK; Gland, Switzerland; and Sharjah, UAE: IUCN and Environment and Protected Areas Authority.
- ^ Cunningham, P.L. & Wronski, T. (2009). "Blanford's fox confirmed in the At-Tubaiq Protected Area (northern Saudi Arabia) and the Ibex Reserve (central Saudi Arabia)" (PDF). Canid News. 12 (4).
- ^ Llewellyn-Smith, R.E. (2000). "A short note on Blanford's fox Vulpes cana in the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah" (PDF). Tribulus. 10 (1): 23–24.
- ^ Duncan, G. (2019). "Rare fox spotted in Al Ain for first time in almost 20 years". The National. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ JSTOR 3504271.
- ^ .
- ISBN 0-7894-7764-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-152335-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-2-8317-0786-0. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 October 2011.
- ^ a b Geffen, E. (2003). "Behavioral and Physiological Adaptations of Foxes to Hot Arid Environments: Comparing Saharo-Arabian and North American Species" (PDF). The Swift Fox: Ecology and Conservation of Swift Foxes in a Changing World. 34: 223–229.
- JSTOR 1382402.
- ISBN 978-0-510-39900-9.
- JSTOR 1382074.
- ISSN 0003-3472.
- ^ Heiser, M. (2007). "Vulpes cana". Animal Diversity Web.
Further reading
- Abu Baker, M. A. et al., (2004). On the Current Status and Distribution of Blanford's fox, Vulpes cana Blanford, 1877, in Jordan (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae). Turk. J. Zool., 28: 1–6.
- Geffen, E., R. Hefner, D. W. Macdonald & Ucko M. (1992). Habitat selection and home range in the Blanford's fox, Vulpes cana: compatibility with the Resource Dispersion Hypothesis. JSTOR 4220034
- Stuart, C.T. & Stuart, T. (1995). Canids in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula. Canid News 3: 30–32.